The Pacers and Pelicans completed 2-for-1: Return to the first round of 2026 signing

On June 18, the Pacers, who are still playing in the finals, completed a 2-for-1 deal. They gave their signing rights to Mojave King this season's No. 23 draw and Mojave King, and exchanged for their first round of 2026. This transaction has been officially announced.

For the Pacers, the deal met two goals - one of which, with salary expert Marks reported that the deal would clear about $3.24 million in cap space for the Pacers, giving the team more salary flexibility when re-signing Miles Turner and avoiding excessive touchdown to the luxury tax line.

Secondly, this operation will release more future first-round picks for the Pacers for trading. Previously, as the "Sterpill Rules" prohibited the team from not having first-round picks for two consecutive seasons, the Pacers could only provide at most two first-round picks unconditionally in any trading plan, and now they can offer up to four (2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032). The Pacers initially sent the 2026 draft pick as a trade chip to the Raptors in exchange for Siakam last season. The Raptors sent the draft pick to the Pelicans earlier this season as part of the Brandon Ingram trade. After the

trade is completed, the Pelicans have two first-round picks (No. 7 and No. 23) in this year's draft.

23-year-old Mojave King is the second round pick in 2023. He played 15 Development League games for Indiana Crazy Ants in the 2023-24 season, and played professional leagues in Puerto Rico and his native New Zealand last season. The Pacers will reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, and will retain most of the core members of their existing roster, except for center Miles Turner coming to a full free agent (with whom the Pacers are expected to renew their contract).

The Pacers are currently trailing the Thunder 2-3 in the seven-game four-win series in the Finals, with the sixth game set to be played in Indianapolis on June 20.