A lingering ankle injury has kept Ivica Zubac on the sidelines since he was acquired in a Feb. 5 trade.<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 One of the newest Indiana Pacers<\/a> may finally be hitting the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pacers announced<\/a> center Ivica Zubac is available for Thursday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n Zubac was acquired by the Pacers in a trade<\/a> with the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 5 of this year. As part of the deal, Indiana sent guard Bennedict Mathurin, forward Isaiah Jackson, two-first round picks and one second-round pick to the Clippers in exchange for Zubac and guard Kobe Brown.<\/p>\n The 7-foot, 240-pound Zubac has yet to suit up for his new team while he recovers from a lingering ankle issue<\/a> that he first suffered in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n He averaged 14.4 points and 11 rebounds in 42 games with Los Angeles this season before the trade. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle called him one of the top ten centers in the NBA at the time of the deal.<\/p>\n Brown, a 6-foot, 7-inch forward, has averaged 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12 games with the Pacers. He’s played more than 24 minutes per game for Indiana, compared with 8.7 minutes a game for the Clippers this season, where he averaged 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 34 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n