Roughly four months after bringing the Brandon Ingram era to an end, the New Orleans Pelicans are taking steps to define a new trajectory. Much remains the same with the general roster construction, but Joe Dumars has arrived in New Orleans and committed to a vision that already shows signs of a different mentality.
That took shape on Tuesday, June 17 when the Pelicans expedited the return on the Ingram deal by swapping first-round draft picks with the Indiana Pacers.
New Orleans sent Ingram to the Toronto Raptors in a February trade that brought back Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a 2026 first-round draft pick, and a 2031 second-rounder. The 2026 pick was originally the Pacers', but was acquired by the Raptors in the vaunted Pascal Siakam deal.
With Indiana looking to save short-term money and New Orleans hoping to take the next step toward a turnaround, the two sides agreed to swap 2025 and 2026 first-round draft picks.
NBA draft deal: The Indiana Pacers are trading their No. 23 pick and the rights to Mojave King to the New Orleans Pelicans for Indiana's own 2026 first-round pick back which the Pelicans had previously acquired, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 17, 2025
As a result, the Pelicans will now have two first-round selections at the 2025 NBA Draft: No. 7 and No. 23.
New Orleans now owns the Nos. 7 and 23 selections in the first round of the NBA draft on June 25. https://t.co/e6hV2cYq1w
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 17, 2025
Dumars has thus positioned New Orleans to make a considerable splash on draft night—and to officially begin the process of moving on from the Ingram era.
Pelicans use Brandon Ingram trade to add a second 2025 first-round pick
The Ingram trade has become a somewhat contentious issue based on the return New Orleans accepted. As it stands, the deal is set to amount to Brown, Olynyk, the No. 23 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and a second-round selection in 2031.
That's a shockingly limited return for an All-Star who averaged 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.8 three-point field goals made on .472/.372/.847 shooting in six seasons with the Pelicans.
Salt has since been thrown in the wound. The Orlando Magic recently gave up Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four future first-round draft picks, and a top-2 protected 2029 pick swap for Desmond Bane.
For what it's worth: Bane has managed almost identical production to Ingram, averaging 21.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.8 three-point field goals over the past three seasons.
Dumars wasn't with the Pelicans when the Ingram trade as executed, of course, and he's right to attempt to make the most of the assets at his disposal. An argument can be made that he's done exactly that by creating a multifaceted opportunity to improve the roster.
New Orleans could keep the Nos. 7 and 23 picks and add two promising prospects on rookie-scale contracts, or package its selections to move up and select a bigger name in the prospect pool.
In either scenario, the Pelicans will have a chance to move on from the Ingram trade and define a new identity. They still have a surplus of talented and healthy players on the roster, including Herbert Jones, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, Antonio Reeves, and Zion Williamson.
With the group in place and the assets acquired via the Ingram trade, New Orleans can finally begin the process of competing for a postseason appearance again.