Pacers-Pelicans trade

The Pacers are busy recovering from Game 5 of the NBA Finals, plotting their strategy for Game 6 – and making a trade!

The Pacers are trading the No. 23 pick and the rights to 2023 No. 47 pick Mojave King to the Pelicans for Indiana's own 2026 first-rounder (which was top-four protected, sent to Toronto for Pascal Siakam then by the Raptors to New Orleans for Brandon Ingram), according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Primarily, the Pacers clear the No. 23 pick – with a projected salary of $3 million – from their books next season.

If they otherwise fill their roster with minimum-salary free agents, the Pacers now project to be about $14 million below the luxury-tax line before re-signing Myles Turner. That obviously won't be enough, and they'll reportedly enter the tax to keep him. But this trade reduces their tax liability.

As far as basketball reasons for the trade, Indiana is on thinner ice. A team that has really found its groove after a slow start, the Pacers should expect to pick lower than No. 23 next year. Perhaps, they like the quality of next year's draft more than this year's in that range.  Given the team's depth, Indiana might rather wait a year to add a rookie. The Pacers also get some disaster protection by owning their own pick, the ability to pivot into tanking if next season shockingly goes completely off the rails.

The Pelicans – who now have the Nos. 7 and 23 picks – seemed to have leveraged a team making a mostly financial call.

Kevin Durant

The Timberwolves won't trade for Kevin Durant if he's not on board with Minnesota, according to Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Durant has no interest in playing for the Timberwolves, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

Durant's preferred teams – Spurs, Rockets, Heat – reportedly haven't made offers Phoenix finds satisfactory. At some point, he might determine Minnesota is better than wherever else the Suns might ship him.

For now, Durant's stance is a blow to the Suns. They're struggling to generate leverage. The teams Durant would extend with don't want him enough. The teams that most want Durant are leery of acquiring a disgruntled star.

It's a waiting game. But if push comes to shove, and he feels he can't get to San Antonio, Phoenix or Miami, maybe Durant would warm to the Timberwolves. They can hope, at least.

Jalen Williams

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will probably win Finals MVP.

Jalen Williams just scored 40 points last night.

What an all-time complementary performance on the biggest stage.

Just three players have ever had 40-point Finals games then had a teammate win Finals MVP:

• Khris Middleton (2021 MIL) – Finals MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo

• Kyrie Irving (2016 CLE) – Finals MVP: LeBron James

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1980 LAL) – Finals MVP: Magic Johnson

Of course, nothing is guaranteed. The Thunder might not win the series. Williams could overtake Gilgeous-Alexander for Finals MVP.

But Williams is trending toward adding his name to that list.

Jalen Williams

By points per minute, this was the seventh-most efficient 40-point game in Finals history:

Tyrese Haliburton

In Game 3 of the 1989 NBA Finals, Magic Johnson tried to play through a hamstring injury but made it just five minutes before exiting the series for good.

That was the last time and only time since the 1950s an All-NBA player missed all his shots in an NBA Finals game – until Tyrese Haliburton last night.

You can argue how much Haliburton – who's playing through a leg injury – deserves credit for gutting it out or blame for not producing enough. But whatever the cause, there's no debate: The Pacers are significantly weakened when their best player provides so little.

Game 5

Watch Nate and Danny break down Game 5:

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers trail in a series for the first time all postseason .

They're just the fifth team in NBA history to trail for the first time so deep into the playoffs.

Teams that trailed for the first time after at least Game 5 of the Finals:

• 2025 Indiana Pacers

• 2013 San Antonio Spurs

• 1984 Los Angeles Lakers

• 1957 St. Louis Hawks

• 1955 Syracuse Nationals

The 1955 Nationals and 1957 Hawks played only one series before the Finals. The 1984 Lakers are Indiana's lone true analogue.

The 2013 Spurs are in a special class. They blazed through the West then went up 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 on the Heat in the Finals – before losing Games 6 and 7. That's right: San Antonio didn't trail until the moment its season ended.

3-2

Up 3-2 in the 2022 Finals, the Warriors went to Boston and closed out in Game 6.

Up 3-2 in the 2019 Finals, the Raptors went to Golden State and closed out in Game 6.

Up 3-2 in the 2015 Finals, the Warriors went to Cleveland and closed out in Game 6.

The only exception since the NBA dropped the 2-3-2 format, of course: The Warriors lost Game 6 in Cleveland in 2016 – then lost Game 7 at home, blowing a 3-1 lead.

Overall, home-court-advantage teams up 3-2 entering a road Game 6 in the NBA Finals – like the Thunder – have:

• Won in 6: 47%

• Won in 7: 37%

• Lost in 7: 16%

With a sample of 19 series, just three teams have lost the Finals in Oklahoma City's situation – 2016 Warriors (to Cavaliers), 1978 Washington Bullets (to Seattle SuperSonics) and 1969 Lakers (to Celtics).

Steals

The pressure on the ball in this series is insane – coming from both the expected highly disruptive defenders and everywhere.

Last night, 13 different players got a steal. That's the most in a Finals game since 2016 Warriors-Cavaliers, and that was a 33-point blowout that got there only due to garbage time. Otherwise, it's the most since 2003 Spurs-Nets.

Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace (four steals each) led the way last night. Those are the seventh four-steal games of the series (following Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, T.J. McConnell, Pascal Siakam and Caruso). The last Finals with so many four-steal games was 1986 Celtics-Rockets.

Overall, the 20 steals per game in this series are the most in a Finals since 1983 76ers-Lakers.

Good luck protecting the ball from the known swipers. It requires maximum attention. And while you're distracted by them… someone else could be picking your pocket.

Offensive rebounding

The Thunder's offensive-rebounding percentage in Game 5 – 37.3%, via Basketball-Reference – would've been the highest in a Finals game the last three years.

If the Pacers didn't grab 40.9% of offensive boards last night.

Indiana's offensive-rebounding percentage was the highest in a Finals game since 2016 (Cavaliers vs. Warriors).

The last time both teams had such high offensive-rebounding percentages in a Finals game? Twenty years ago (Spurs-Pistons in 2005).

-Dan Feldman