The Pacers defensive rebounding question starts with Tyrese Haliburton wanting to run. He wants the ball before the defense gets organized. He wants Aaron Nesmith streaking toward a corner, Pascal Siakam filling the middle and Obi Toppin forcing a big man into a dead sprint. That attack helped carry Indiana to the 2025 NBA Finals.
None of it starts without the rebound.
Indiana learned that lesson during a brutal 2025-26 season. Haliburton missed all 82 games while recovering from the torn right Achilles he suffered in Game 7 of the Finals. The damage spread well beyond its All-NBA point guard. The Pacers lost 420 player-games to injuries, used 48 different starting lineups and finished a franchise-worst 19-63.
The defense suffered with all that lineup churn. Indiana allowed 118.8 points per 100 possessions and secured only 74.1 percent of available defensive rebounds.
Now Ivica Zubac gives Rick Carlisle something his battered roster rarely had last year: a center built to win space under the rim.
The harder question is what happens around him.
Zubac gives Indiana a different kind of center
Watch Zubac when the shot leaves a shooter’s hand.
He does not immediately turn toward the rim and hunt the basketball. First comes the body. Zubac finds the opposing center, gets his hips underneath him and uses his size to push the fight away from the restricted area. If the ball falls into his hands, fine. If Andrew Nembhard scoops it up instead, the possession still belongs to Indiana.
That physical work matters to the Pacers defensive rebounding problem because not every good box out becomes a statistic.
Zubac arrived in February after spending most of the season with the Clippers. Indiana barely had time to learn what he could change. He appeared in only five games for the Pacers before fracturing a rib against Portland on March 18, ending his season. He averaged 7.2 rebounds during those five appearances.
Injuries also denied Indiana a real look at its preferred frontcourt combinations. Zubac never played meaningful regular-season minutes beside a healthy Haliburton, and Pascal Siakam missed the five games Zubac played for Indiana.
That makes training camp unusually important. Carlisle is not fine-tuning an established partnership. He is building one.
Zubac should handle the wrestling matches that drained Indiana last season. Against powerful centers, he can absorb the first hit instead of forcing a smaller forward to clean up the damage. When a guard penetrates, he can protect the rim without automatically surrendering rebounding position to the biggest opposing player.
Still, one center cannot cover the entire paint.
His presence creates a lineup puzzle too
Zubac improves Indiana’s rebounding floor, but Carlisle cannot evaluate that benefit in isolation.
The Pacers built their best offensive stretches around space, pace and quick decisions. Zubac brings a different geometry. He rolls hard, screens with force and does most of his damage close to the basket. Defenders will not follow him 25 feet from the rim the way they would a true stretch five.
That puts pressure on the other four spots.
Pair Zubac with Siakam and three willing shooters, and Indiana should have enough room for Haliburton to probe ball screens. Add another reluctant perimeter threat, and those driving lanes shrink. Carlisle could gain rebounding strength while giving away some of the space that makes his offense difficult to guard.
The Pacers defensive rebounding discussion therefore reaches well beyond Zubac’s individual numbers. Indiana must find combinations that can finish defensive possessions without clogging the other end.
Jay Huff gives Carlisle length and rim protection. Larry Nance Jr., signed by Indiana in July, offers another mobile veteran frontcourt option. Nance spent the 2025-26 season back with Cleveland, where he averaged 2.7 rebounds in 12.8 minutes across 35 games before joining the Pacers this summer.
That timeline matters because Nance should not be viewed as the primary answer on the glass. His role is more flexible than that. He can change matchups, switch onto smaller players and give Carlisle a different look when Zubac’s size becomes harder to carry against five-out offenses.
Zubac remains the anchor.
The rebounds that escape his area belong to everyone else.
Indiana’s wings have to finish the job
Picture a late-clock possession against a spread pick-and-roll.
Zubac steps toward the driver and forces a high floater. The opposing center dives behind him. At the same time, a forward crashes from the weak-side corner while the shot drifts toward the opposite block.
Zubac has already done his job. He stopped the drive.
Now somebody else has to hit the cutter.
That is where Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker and Pascal Siakam become central to the Pacers defensive rebounding issue. Indiana cannot expect Zubac to challenge shots, block out the opposing center and chase every loose ball by himself.
Nesmith may spend most of a possession chasing a shooter around two screens and fighting over a handoff. Once he contests the jumper, his work is not finished. He still has to turn, locate whoever is crashing behind him and make contact before looking for the ball.
Those are exhausting possessions. They are also the difference between a stop and another 14 seconds of defense.
Siakam led Indiana with 6.6 rebounds per game last season, while Walker reached a career-high 5.1 across 76 appearances. The numbers show Indiana has capable rebounders beyond Zubac. What Carlisle needs now is consistency in the moments when his center gets pulled away from the rim.
That responsibility falls across the wing rotation, but Walker may have the best tools to take on more of it.
Jarace Walker can raise Indiana’s rebounding ceiling
At 6-foot-7 with a strong frame, Walker can handle the exact rebounds Zubac cannot always reach. When the center steps up to challenge a driver, Walker has the size to slide into the paint, find the free big and finish the possession.
His value does not come from simply jumping higher than the man next to him. It starts with recognizing where the opening will appear.
When Zubac rotates, Walker has to slide down. When Siakam challenges a shooter, Walker needs to locate the next body. When a three-pointer produces a long rebound, he cannot wait underneath the basket for the ball to come back.
That version of Walker can change the Pacers defensive rebounding ceiling.
Carlisle does not need him hunting spectacular boards over three opponents. He needs early contact, strong positioning and two hands on the ball. Those plays rarely make the nightly highlights, but coaches notice every one.
A Walker who consistently finishes those possessions gives Carlisle more freedom elsewhere. Haliburton can release sooner. Nesmith can run wider. Siakam can attack mismatches before the opponent resets.
One rebound can change the entire shape of the next possession.
Haliburton makes each clean rebound more dangerous
This is where the argument comes back to Indiana’s identity.
Haliburton missed the entire 2025-26 season, but his Achilles has healed and he returned to five-on-five basketball work during his rehabilitation. His expected return gives the Pacers their transition engine back.
A clean defensive rebound becomes more valuable with him on the floor.
Nembhard can secure the miss and find Haliburton immediately. Haliburton can turn before the defense has matched up. Nesmith races toward the corner, Siakam finds an early seal and Toppin attacks the rim while opposing bigs are still crossing half court.
That is Pacers basketball.
It also creates the temptation Carlisle must control.
If Nesmith sees a shot going up and starts running before contact, Indiana may gain half a second in transition. If the opponent grabs the rebound behind him, the advantage means nothing. The same calculation applies to nearly every wing on the roster.
Finding the balance between crashing and releasing should become one of Carlisle’s biggest training-camp jobs.
The rules need to be simple enough to survive at game speed. One player finds the shooter. Another cracks down on the big. Zubac handles the primary interior body. Whoever secures the ball knows where Haliburton will be.
No hesitation. No guessing.
The Pacers cannot skip the ugly part
There will be far more exciting storylines when Indiana opens camp.
Haliburton’s return will dominate attention. Zubac’s first extended run with the starters will draw interest. Carlisle will test rotations, young players will fight for minutes and expectations will rise after a lost season.
The Pacers defensive rebounding question may look small beside all of that.
It is not.
Indiana wants to play fast, but speed has a starting point. The ball has to belong to the Pacers before anyone can sprint the other way. Last season’s injuries exposed plenty of weaknesses, yet they also offered a reminder that good defensive possessions mean little when an opponent gets the miss back.
Zubac should help immediately. He brings size, positioning and a willingness to absorb contact that Indiana badly needed. Carlisle can trust him to handle the first body more often than the centers and undersized combinations he had to cycle through last season.
The other four defenders decide whether that work pays off.
Walker has to slide inside when Zubac contests. Nesmith must finish his box out after chasing shooters. Siakam cannot release until someone controls the ball. Guards need to chase long rebounds instead of watching the big men fight for them.
Then the fun part begins.
Haliburton gets the outlet. A wing takes off. The defense turns and runs.
Indiana can become dangerous in seconds.
First, somebody has to grab the damn rebound.
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