Ivica Zubac will begin his first full season with the Indiana Pacers organization in about one month. Unfortunately, the Indiana Pacers won’t be able to maximize his offensive skill set. 

Ivica Zubac had his best statistical season in 2024-25 with the Los Angeles Clippers. He averaged 16.8 points with 12.6 rebounds, shooting 62.8% on 11.8 attempts per game. At the time, James Harden was the team’s primary ball-handler, and Zubac was his favorite passing target. 

Harden passed Zubac the ball 11.5 times a game, a frequency of 20.8%. James would get him the ball through two different play types. One was an entry pass to the post, with Ivica Zubac in position for a post-up.

These passes helped Ivica achieve a career high in the post-ups. He spent 27.9% of his offensive possessions in the post, averaging 4.1 per game. Ivica was extremely productive in the play type, averaging 4.3 points per game and shooting 59.2% from the field on 3.2 attempts per game.

Ivica Zubac was also highly involved in the pick-and-roll offense. The offensive set was one of Harden’s favorite offensive sets in 2024-25. Harden ran the pick-and-roll on 27% of his offensive possessions, averaging 6.4 per game.

When he ran the set, Zubac was the primary screener. As a screener, he primarily had two different tasks:

1. If James rejected the screen, he would run over to the free-throw line. This allowed him to be an outlet if Harden had no room to move.

If he received the ball, he would analyze the defensive coverage before proceeding to the next action. For instance, if he was standing alone near the free-throw line, he would like to score. This option helped him post a career high in cut possessions, averaging 3 per game.

2. If James accepted the screen, he would run towards the basket and get in position for a pass. As a result, Zubac had a career high in roll man possessions, averaging 2.9 per game.

These play types allowed him to lead the league in paint touches, averaging 12.6 per game. He produced 7.3 points off those touches, shooting 65.4% on 5.6 attempts per game. Unfortunately, Indiana doesn’t emphasize paint touches. They have ranked 18th in the category since 2022, averaging 22.7 per game.

Furthermore, Indiana Pacers centers have averaged 8.7 paint touches since 2022-23, 23rd in the league. The lack of paint touches is partly due to their point guard’s play style. 

Since arriving in Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton has preferred passing the ball to perimeter players. For instance, he passed the ball to Buddy Hield 26.6% of the time during the 2022-23 season, averaging 19.3 passes per game.

Buddy Hield averaged 7.1 more passes per game than the next-closest teammate, Myles Turner. The tendency to pass to the perimeter showed up again in 2024. Tyrese Haliburton passed the ball to Andrew Nembhard 19.3% of the time, for 14.3 passes per game.

The gap between Andrew Nembhard and the next closest teammate was 0.4 passes per game. Because of these tendencies, the Indiana Pacers have been, at best, league-average in the play types Zubac excelled in during the 2024-25 season.

Unless the Indiana Pacers put a greater emphasis on passing the ball to centers, the team won’t be able to maximize Ivica Zubac.