Jun 4, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle during NBA Finals Media Day at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Indiana Pacers Officially Announce Trade Before Game 6

Originally posted on Fastbreak on SI | By Ben Stinar | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 1:17 PM ET

On Thursday evening, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder will play Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Before the game, the Pacers officially announced that they had made a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Via The Indiana Pacers: "We have re-acquired the rights to our 2026 first-round draft pick from the New Orleans Pelicans (originally conveyed to Toronto as part of the Pascal Siakam trade) in exchange for the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the draft rights to guard Mojave King."

We have re-acquired the rights to our 2026 first-round draft pick from the New Orleans Pelicans (originally conveyed to Toronto as part of the Pascal Siakam trade) in exchange for the 23rd overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and the draft rights to guard Mojave King.

Learn more:… pic.twitter.com/UmVDtOqj0l
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 17, 2025

Many NBA fans left comments on the announcement from the team.

@re2pectjeta: "I thought you couldn’t trade while your team was still playing in the season"

@rokubore1987: "Solid move! Getting that 2026 pick back could be huge. @william_x34 was just saying the other day how important future flexibility is for this team. Let’s see how it plays out!"

@JamesJohnsonIND: "Hopefully Mojave gets his chance with NOP"

@ShowerPj: "We are in the finals"

The Pacers will now control their pick for next season (2026 NBA Draft).

Via Evan Sidery of Forbes: "Another extremely savvy move by the Pacers’ front office to reacquire their 2026 first-round pick originally dealt for Pascal Siakam in 2024.

For Indiana, they now have four tradable future first-round selections to get aggressive in trades if necessary:

2026
2028
2030
2032"

Another extremely savvy move by the Pacers’ front office to reacquire their 2026 first-round pick originally dealt for Pascal Siakam in 2024.

For Indiana, they now have four tradable future first-round selections to get aggressive in trades if necessary:

2026
2028
2030
2032 pic.twitter.com/ktNwXQEBG1
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 17, 2025