Pacers quiet on night 1 of 2026 NBA Draft, but trade-in option remains

Indiana entered the 2026 NBA Draft without a pick, but history suggests Kevin Pritchard’s front office could still look for a way into the second round.

The NBA wrapped up the first round of the 2026 Draft shortly before 11:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. And for the third year in a row, the Pacers did not have a Day 1 selection.

For the third straight year, the league has made it a two-day event. That’s good for fans, and especially good for teams, as the second round would have likely stretched to 1 a.m. — and then even more business happens from there.

That’s when teams call around to fill out their roster with undrafted players, both for summer league and training camp.

The draft was also pushed to earlier in the week, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, because of the FIFA World Cup being hosted in the Untied States. Team USA’s next game is scheduled for Thursday night.

Did you notice how there was not an NBA Finals game in the traditional Sunday matinee time slot? Again, that seemingly was done not to conflict with this global soccer event.