The Pacers lost 14 of 16 games! The probability of the first four picks is 52.1%. US media predicts that Dibansa will be selected to average 20+7 per game.

On November 22, the Pacers lost to the Cavaliers 109-120 and missed their winning streak. The Pacers had lost 14 of the 16 games at the start of the new season. The Pacers only withstood the first half of the cup match and entered garbage time early in the final quarter after a 26-38 collapse in the third quarter.

The Pacers are full of injuries. Quentin Jackson has a hamstring strain, Furfe has an ankle sprain, Nesmith has a knee injury, Cam Jones has a lower back strain, Toppin has a right big toe sprain, and Haliburton has a torn right Achilles tendon. Moreover, Nembhard and Marcelin both played with injuries. The Pacers were the Eastern Conference champions last season, and they were unable to recover due to injuries.

In this campaign, Nembhard had 32 points and 8 assists, Siakam had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Marcelin had 21 points and 7 rebounds, and McConnell had 10 points and 4 assists. These four people have worked very hard, but the gap between the four Cavaliers with 20+ points is still very big.

Because of the Pacers' poor start to the season, they are a popular team in the 2026 draft. Their current probability of the top four picks is as high as 52.1%, and their probability of the No. 1 pick is 14%.

The draft website predicted that the Pacers would win the third pick. In the end, they used the third pick to select AJ DiBanza. DiBanza is a 2.06-meter-tall striker and a core player of the U.S. youth team.

Dibanza just finished an NCAA game. He made 3 of 8 in the game, 1 of 3 three-pointers, 11 of 12 free throws, and got 18,6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. The 18-year-old Dibansa chose Brigham Young University because here he is the absolute core and the absolute No. 1 ball-handling core.

Dibansa currently averages 30 minutes per game in the NCAA, scoring 20.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 57.4% and a three-point shooting rate of 40%. Dibansa's personal performance is indeed very explosive.

Dibanza has played for the U.S. U16 since 2013. He has been the core of the U.S. youth team for three consecutive years and won three consecutive championships. In this summer's U19 World Cup, he averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game and won the MVP. If the Pacers can select him, a bad performance this season will not actually be considered a failure.