{"id":542751,"date":"2026-01-17T13:17:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/542751\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T13:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:17:42","slug":"indiana-pacers-chicago-bulls-linked-to-yves-missi-trade-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/542751\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls Linked To Yves Missi Trade Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline approaches, New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi<\/a> has emerged as a name to monitor as teams around the league evaluate young, cost-controlled options at the position.<\/p>\n

Sources told DallasHoopsJournal.com<\/a> that the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls are among the teams that have been linked to Missi, whose role with the Pelicans has diminished during his second season amid front-office changes and increased competition in the frontcourt.<\/p>\n

Missi\u2019s reduced role reflects a shift in organizational direction rather than a decline in performance. After playing a prominent role as a rookie, his minutes and usage have decreased as New Orleans has recalibrated its priorities.<\/p>\n

Yves Missi\u2019s Role Has Shifted In Year 2<\/p>\n

During the 2024\u201325 season, Missi averaged 26.8 minutes per game and produced 9.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while operating closer to a starter-level role. This season, he is averaging 18.2 minutes per game through 35 appearances, along with 5.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. He is shooting 55.0% from the field.<\/p>\n

A significant factor in Missi\u2019s changing outlook has been the Pelicans\u2019 investment in Derik Queen<\/a>. Sources told DallasHoopsJournal.com<\/a> that Pelicans executive Joe Dumars<\/a> is very high on Queen, a belief underscored by New Orleans trading control of its 2026 first-round pick to acquire him \u2014 a selection that could land in the top three when it conveys.<\/p>\n

Queen has delivered strong production in an expanded role, averaging 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 42 games while playing 26.0 minutes per contest. His scoring and playmaking have accelerated the Pelicans\u2019 commitment to evaluating him as a long-term frontcourt piece, reshaping the rotation and narrowing Missi\u2019s pathway to consistent minutes.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bulls Continue Search for Center Depth<\/p>\n

The Bulls\u2019 interest in Missi aligns with the franchise\u2019s continued effort to address center depth. The Bulls would like to add a young center option into the mix and have been seeking additional help at the position for some time, sources told DallasHoopsJournal.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That pursuit comes as the Bulls weigh the future of Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107<\/a>, who is widely viewed as one of the team\u2019s most likely trade chips. Vu\u010devi\u0107 is in the final year of his three-year, $60 million contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at age 35 this summer.<\/p>\n

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his long-term future, Vu\u010devi\u0107 has remained productive. He is averaging 16.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 39 games while playing 30.7 minutes per game and shooting 50.3% from the field and 37.8% from three-point range.<\/p>\n

Indiana Pacers Monitoring Yves Missi<\/p>\n

The Pacers\u2019 interest in Missi is tied to broader trade discussions involving Bennedict Mathurin<\/a>. Sources have linked the Pelicans to Mathurin as Indiana tests his market ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n

Mathurin is in the final year of his rookie-scale contract at approximately $9.1 million and is headed toward restricted free agency without an extension in place. That positioning has led the Pacers to listen on his value as it searches for a starting-caliber center.<\/p>\n

From New Orleans\u2019 perspective, Mathurin profiles as an aggressive scoring wing capable of providing downhill creation and perimeter shot-making alongside their core players.<\/p>\n

Latest NBA News & Trade Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline approaches, New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi has emerged as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,363,329,803,126,6,6050,2828,1783,478,470,4073,4072,3853,675,1259],"class_list":{"0":"post-542751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-pelicans","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bennedict-mathurin","10":"tag-chicago-bulls","11":"tag-derik-queen","12":"tag-indiana-pacers","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-rumors","15":"tag-nba-trade-deadline","16":"tag-nba-trade-rumors","17":"tag-new-orleans","18":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","19":"tag-neworleans","20":"tag-neworleanspelicans","21":"tag-nikola-vucevic","22":"tag-pelicans","23":"tag-yves-missi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115910636544710886","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}