ESPN's Shams Charania reported that free-agent center Myles Turner has agreed to a four-year, $107 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. This deal came after the Bucks decided to waive Damian Lillard and stretch the remaining money on his contract across the next 5 years. This deal has serious implications when it comes to the New Orleans Pelicans, as during the NBA finals, the Pels and the Indiana Pacers made a trade.
The Pelicans sent the Pacers back their 2026 first-round pick in exchange for pick No. 23. This trade has aged like milk, as with Myles Turner leaving Indiana, they now have no starting center, on top of that, they also will be without Tyrese Haliburton who torn his right Achilles tendon in game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Despite being in a much weaker Eastern Conference with the loss of Turner and the absence of Haliburton next season, Indy may still finish in the bottom five in the entire NBA. Joe Dumars couldn't have predicted all of this as the Pacers were playing in the NBA Finals when the trade was made. However, it shows that patience is a virtue.
New Orleans wanted the No. 23 pick to help them trade up for a second lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. They were successful as the Atlanta Hawks traded their pick No. 13 for No. 23 and a 2026 unprotected first-round pick. At 13, the Pelicans selected Derik Queen. This selection has received significant backlash due to his fit with the Pels and what they gave up to acquire him.
Interestingly, the unprotected first-round pick that was packaged with pick No. 23 to trade up for Queen is a swap between Milwaukee and New Orleans.
The Pelicans' ownership needs to hold back Joe Dumars from trading any more first-round picks
The idea of trading away an unprotected Bucks first-round pick was something many felt upset about, as on draft night, no one knew what Giannis Antetokounmpo's future in Milwaukee looked like. And even after the addition of Turner, no one knows what the future looks like. Chris Haynes reported Giannis was upset about the Bucks waiving Lillard, so who knows if the Greek Freak will even in Milwaukee next season.
At first, the Bucks’ signing of Turner appeared to signal a return to title contention, which made the Pelicans’ decision to trade up for Derik Queen look more justifiable. After all, the pick they gave up was expected to fall late in the 2026 draft.
But following this new report from Haynes, the outlook for that pick has once again become uncertain. The only clear takeaway here is that trading other teams’ first-round picks is always a gamble, especially when you have no real sense of where that franchise is headed.
After looking at the direction both the Bucks and Pacers are headed, trading away both of their 2026 first-round picks has aged poorly for Joe Dumars and the Pelicans.