Sources: Pacers trade 1st-round pick to Pelicans

The Indiana Pacers are trading their first-round enactment successful adjacent week's NBA draught -- the No. 23 wide prime -- to the New Orleans Pelicans and reacquiring their ain first-round prime successful 2026, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

The Pelicans besides received the rights to erstwhile Indiana G League subordinate Mojave King, sources told Charania, portion the reigning Eastern Conference champion Pacers gained further fiscal flexibility entering the offseason.

The commercialized clears retired astir $3.2 cardinal successful wage headdress abstraction for the Pacers, who present presently person their ain first-round prime successful 7 consecutive drafts starting successful 2026.

The Pacers are projected to participate the offseason astir $20 cardinal beneath the luxury taxation and good beneath some headdress aprons.

The Pacers initially sent their 2026 prime to the Raptors past twelvemonth arsenic portion of their commercialized to get Pascal Siakam. Toronto past dealt the prime to New Orleans earlier this twelvemonth arsenic portion of the Brandon Ingram trade.

The Pelicans present ain 2 picks successful the archetypal circular -- Nos. 7 and 23 -- of the June 25-26 draft.

King, 23, was a second-round prime successful 2023 and past played successful the G League successful 2023-24, erstwhile helium appeared successful 15 games with the Indiana Mad Ants. He played professionally this past play successful Puerto Rico and his autochthonal New Zealand.

The Pacers, who are playing successful the NBA Finals for the archetypal clip since 2000, volition instrumentality astir of the halfway of their existent roster with the imaginable objection of halfway Myles Turner, who is acceptable to go an unrestricted escaped agent.

The Pacers way the Oklahoma City Thunder, 3-2, successful the best-of-seven NBA Finals. Game 6 is Friday successful Indianapolis.

ESPN's Bobby Marks contributed to this report.