New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram is available for trade.
He has one year remaining on his contract worth $36 million. The early expectation is that Ingram is looking for a max extension.
However, New Orleans seems to be reluctant to offer him that contract and became open to exploring trades. But, whoever does end up trading for Ingram will have to presumably fork up money to keep him.
Up to this point, there has not been much traction due to the possibility of having to pay Ingram. With not many suitors being mentioned, Bleacher Report proposed a hypothetical trade with the Toronto Raptors acquiring the Pelicans forward.
This particular deal revolves around Toronto receiving Ingram, Jordan Hawkins and Matt Ryan. The Raptors would send out Jakob Poeltl, Bruce Brown and a 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected via the Indiana Pacers).
For the Raptors, in terms of purely adding talent this trade makes sense. Moving off from Poeltl who wants to play winning basketball and Brown who does not fit the Raptors timeline seems logical.
However, Toronto’s forward room could get crowded and clunky with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Ingram. All of them like to have the ball in their hands, in addition to Immanuel Quickley, a score-first guard.
An underrated piece is Hawkins, someone that lacks no confidence in shooting three-pointers. Having him, Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter as bench projects is another intriguing aspect.
On the other hand, the Pelicans want to compete and are in the market for a center. Poeltl could slot in as their starter and Brown could be a valuable rotation piece.
Nonetheless, it would all boil down to whether Toronto is willing to pay Ingram the figure he is looking for. For a rebuilding Raptors team, that wouldn’t make sense.
Brandon Ingram’s 2023-24 stats
Last season was Ingram’s healthiest since his rookie year, playing in 64 games.
In totality, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 49.2 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent shooting from deep.
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