Pacers Trade No. 23 Draft Pick, Mojave King to Pelicans for 2026 First-Rounder

The Indiana Pacers are trading their No. 23 overall pick in next week’s 2025 NBA draft and the rights to Mojave King to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for their own first-round pick in 2026, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday.

Pacers Sent Their 2026 First-Rounder To Raptors In Pascal Siakam Trade

The Pacers initially sent their 2026 first-rounder to the Toronto Raptors last season as part of the Pascal Siakam trade. Toronto then dealt the pick to New Orleans earlier this season as part of the Brandon Ingram trade. The Pelicans now own the Nos. 7 and 23 picks in the draft.

King, 23, was a second-round pick in 2023 and last played in the G League in 2023-24. The 6-foot-5 guard appeared in 15 games with the Indiana Mad Ants off the bench, averaging 3.9 points on 38.1% shooting from the field. He also played professionally this past season in Puerto Rico and New Zealand.

NBA draft deal: The Indiana Pacers are trading their No. 23 pick and the rights to Mojave King to the New Orleans Pelicans for Indiana’s own 2026 first-round pick back which the Pelicans had previously acquired, sources tell ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 17, 2025

Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the trade clears out nearly $3.2 million in salary cap space for the Pacers, who now currently possess their own first-round pick in seven consecutive drafts starting in 2026.

The Pacers are projected to enter the offseason about $20 million below the luxury tax and well beneath both cap aprons, which could make it easier for the team to re-sign Myles Turner to a long-term extension.

Indiana Could Offer Myles Turner A Long-Term Extension

According to Spotrac, Turner is on an expiring two-year, $40.9 million contract. The 6-foot-11 big man will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he is unable to reach an extension with the Pacers.

But that might no longer be an issue for Indiana. Ownership was reportedly willing to re-enter the luxury tax in order to keep the core together to compete for a championship.

“There is a strong sentiment among various league executives that Turner will re-sign with Indiana,” Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported last week.

“Cap strategists are projecting his salary to land in the $30 million range in terms of average annual value. However …We’ve been told to monitor at least one team as a potential suitor for Turner on the open market: Detroit.”

Now that Indiana has extra cap space, extending Turner could be a done deal.

The Pacers are currently playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. Regardless of the outcome, the expectation is that Indiana will return most of its core players for 2025-26.

Indiana trails the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Friday in Indianapolis.