Pelicans acquire a second 2025 first-round draft pick from the Pacers in exchange for a 2026 pick

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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