By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 20:39 BST, 17 June 2025 | Updated: 20:39 BST, 17 June 2025
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Indiana Pacers have agreed to trade their 23rd overall choice in next week's NBA draft to New Orleans for a 2026 first-round pick, the Pelicans announced Tuesday.
The deal gives the Pelicans two first-round picks - the seventh and 23rd overall - in the draft, raising the prospect that New Orleans could package both in a deal to move up in the first round next Wednesday.
The Pelicans also will receive the rights to Mojave King, a 2023 second-round draft choice who has played for Indiana's G League affiliate as well as overseas in Puerto Rico and New Zealand.
The Pacers are getting back a 2026 pick they had traded to the Toronto Raptors in a 2024 deal sending Pascal Siakam to Indiana. Last February, Toronto dealt that pick to New Orleans as part of a trade that sent Brandon Ingram to the Raptors.
The Pacers are the reigning Eastern Conference champions and currently trail the Oklahoma City Thunder, 3-2, in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in Indianapolis.
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The Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder compete during the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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