CHICAGO — Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan sat at Navy Pier while a sea of ping pong balls decided whether the Indiana Pacers would keep their 2026 first-round pick after a trade that brought Ivica Zubac to Indianapolis. T.J. McConnell stood on stage as the team’s lottery representative and watched the reveal alongside the pair, while Pacers vice president Ted Wu handled league business in the room. The Clippers landed the fifth pick and the mood at the Pacers table shifted from hopeful to stunned in a matter of seconds.
Kevin Pritchard could not sleep the night before the draft lottery. The Pacers had traded their 2026 first-rounder to the Los Angeles Clippers in February as part of the Ivica Zubac deal, and the pick carried protections that meant L.A. would only get it if it landed 5-9. With the math nearly even — 52.1 percent in Indiana’s favor and 47.9 percent for the Clippers — the outcome felt like a coin flip with high stakes.
The two outcomes were stark. If the pick stayed with the Pacers, the trade would look like a clean upgrade: Zubac, a near All-NBA-caliber center, joining a roster built to win now. If the pick slid into the Clippers’ hands, the cost would include the chance at a top prospect in a deep draft, and the deal would be judged differently if Zubac battled injuries or chemistry issues.
“The truth is, I didn’t sleep much last night. And [Pacers general manager] Chad (Buchanan) and I kind of got away and walked. And we were trying to plan out everything, for the good, for the bad,” Pritchard admitted before the reveal, the kind of honesty that made the night feel even more raw. Buchanan and Pritchard have worked together for years, and Ted Wu was the team’s official lottery contact in Chicago, leaving the two principals to sit and take whatever came next.
The venue was Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, rearranged for the lottery, with team tables up front and a stage for the broadcast. The Pacers table sat between representatives from the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets, and the person on stage representing the Pacers was T.J. McConnell, the team’s veteran guard who once rode lottery luck to a big draft outcome in Philadelphia. There was a buzz in the room, and for a brief moment Pritchard and Buchanan exchanged smiles before the real tension took hold. They .
“Obviously not good news,” McConnell would say about the final result, his words coming after the shock had set in. For the next stretch of the event the three Pacers present barely moved; Pritchard chewed gum, fidgeted, and toggled his glasses while Buchanan sat stoic, a contrast of personalities on full display. The atmosphere made everything inside that room feel magnified.
Pritchard’s nerves were obvious. At 1:48 p.m. local time he put on his glasses, removed them minutes later, and kept adjusting, searching for a way to make time pass. At 1:59 both executives checked their phones, and Pritchard’s hands ran through his hair as if to shake off the pressure. Everyone in the room was conscious that minutes, and a single reveal, could change how the trade was judged for years.
Buchanan’s composure was almost statue-like until the final moments, while McConnell moved from casual to solemn as he approached his seat in a yellow button-up and black pants. He high-fived John Wall of the Washington Wizards, then put his phone on silent and locked eyes with the Pacers executives, the shared look a flash of dread and focus. The broadcast rolled on with ESPN’s Malika Andrews interviewing top prospects like AJ Dybantsa, and then NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum took the stage to announce the results.
The early reveals shuffled teams into the top four, with the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies jumping up and increasing the sense of danger for Indiana’s pick. Pritchard and Buchanan leaned forward as the sixth pick was announced and then stared down the countdown toward the fifth selection. Each card pulled out of the folder felt like a small test of control, and the room tightened with every reveal.
Tatum pulled the card for the sixth slot and the Brooklyn Nets logo appeared, then a pause stretched out before the fifth pick. He began his line. “The fifth pick in the NBA Draft will be made by… “The LA Clippers,” he said, holding up a Clippers logo.
For the Pacers, it was a crushing moment. McConnell looked away as the Clippers’ logo was shown and Buchanan stayed motionless for several minutes before easing his posture. McConnell walked off stage afterward and briefly chatted with Charlotte Hornets forward and lottery representative Kon Knueppel, the kind of small human exchange that comes after big disappointment.
The commercial break that followed did little to shift the mood at the Pacers’ table; the three team figures looked stunned despite understanding the odds heading in. McConnell admitted the emotional hit afterward. “In a way, I felt like I was letting him down,” McConnell said. “I know there’s no reason to feel that way, but just weirdly do.”
Shortly after, the Washington Wizards were announced as the lottery winners and the event wound down into conversations between executives and prospects at the front of the room. Pritchard faced reporters and did not hide his feelings. “We’re all disappointed,” Pritchard said. That was a theme. “Disappointed because this is a great draft,” he added later.
He made sure to praise Zubac even while acknowledging the sting of losing the pick. “What we’ve learned from (Zubac) so far is he’s super smart, and he wants to fit in, and he’s all about winning. And again, disappointed. I’m not trying to smooth over that. We wanted to pick, but we’ll be okay,” Pritchard said, repeating the same sentiment a moment later. “Again, I wanted to pick. We wanted to pick, and I know people are going to be disappointed. But you have to remember, our top seven or eight players are still with us. So today it stings. But wait till next season. Let’s give this group an opportunity to go compete for a championship. Because they’ve proven they can do it.”
Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan looking on with about 10 minutes until the reveal begins. pic.twitter.com/4PgEI6WUwx
— Tony East (@TonyREast) May 10, 2026
The Pacers reached the NBA Finals in 2025 and moved from Myles Turner to Ivica Zubac at center, a bold upgrade that framed just what a top-four pick might have added. Pritchard also spoke about the franchise owner when emotion surfaced again. “My heart hurts for Mr. Simon, if I’m honest. He’s such a good person and he wants it for Indiana like we all want it. In a way, I feel like I’ve let the organization down,” Pritchard said, the gravity of the moment clear as the team left Navy Pier and tried to process what a single ping pong ball machine had decided for their future.
