The New Orleans Pelicans announced on Tuesday that they acquired the No. 23 pick in the 2025 NBA draft from the Indiana Pacers. Shams Charania of ESPN was the first to report the trade.
The Pacers are also sending the Pelicans the draft rights to Mojave King, the 47th overall pick in 2023. They are acquiring their own 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans, which was previously dealt to the Toronto Raptors in the trade involving Pascal Siakam.
The transaction is expected to provide the Pacers with some salary-cap relief, which will help in their efforts to re-sign center Myles Turner this offseason. They are projected to be approximately $20 million under the luxury tax, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN.
The Pelicans now have the Nos. 7 and 23 picks in the first round of the 2025 NBA draft following the trade. The group finished with a 21-61 record last season and appears to be looking to retool the roster through the draft by adding another selection.
New Orleans has hosted predraft workouts with several potential first-round targets, including Nique Clifford (Colorado State), Cedric Coward (Washington State), Egor Demin (BYU), Kon Knueppel (Duke), Asa Newell (Georgia) and Derik Queen (Maryland), among others.
The draft will feature a two-night format for the second consecutive year, with the first round scheduled for June 25 and the second round for June 26 in Brooklyn, New York.