Blockbuster Trade Proposal Sends Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram To Nuggets

One NBA analyst proposed that the Denver Nuggets acquire Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed the following mock trade between the Nuggets and Pelicans:

Denver Nuggets receive: Brandon Ingram

New Orleans Pelicans receive: Michael Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji and a 2031 first-round pick (top-five protected)

“The Nuggets have the best player on the planet in three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, and they just matched the best winning percentage of their NBA existence (.695),” Buckley wrote in his NBA trade proposal. “Are they still fully sold on this core’s championship contention, though? Denver has subtracted key pieces each of the past two summers (first Bruce Brown, then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) and struggled to add established players of note (other than Russell Westbrook).

“Do they see enough scoring and shot-creation within their supporting cast to believe Jokić won’t have to do everything on his own? Jamal Murray is mostly fine as a second option—though his numbers can be a bit erratic—but things get dicey when you get down to Denver’s No. 3. That wouldn’t be the case after an Ingram trade. The 6’8″ swingman is a steady source of inside-the-arc scoring and secondary playmaking, and while his three-point volume has decreased of late, his past perimeter triumphs (2.4 threes with a 38.6 percent splash rate between 2019-20 and 2020-21) suggest he could crank that back up.”

One of the best scorers in the NBA, Ingram averaged 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks in 2023-24 for the Pelicans while shooting 49.2% from the field, 35.5% from beyond the arc and 80.1% from the free-throw line.

The Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Pelicans in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. Ingram averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks while shooting 34.5% overall and 25.0% from 3 in the series. 

A Duke product, Ingram has career averages of 19.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks with the Los Angeles Lakers and Pelicans. He won the 2019-20 Most Improved Player of the Year Award. 

“It’d be a bold move, sure, but maybe some boldness is needed,” Buckley wrote. “For a club that should be evaluated by the championship-or-bust metric, the Nuggets seem uncomfortably reliant on young, largely unproven players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. Ingram would provide the comfort of a proven producer.”

Ingram will make $36 million next season. He’s in the final year of his contract.