Trade Proposal Sends Brandon Ingram To Heat, Tyler Herro And Caleb Martin To Pelicans

One NBA analyst proposed that the Miami Heat acquire Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans for Tyler Herro and Caleb Martin. 

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed the following trade idea between the Heat and Pelicans:

Miami Heat receive: Brandon Ingram

New Orleans Pelicans receive: Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin (sign-and-trade) and a 2029 first-round pick

“Ingram doesn’t have the high-volume three-ball the Heat would ideally want, but he checks a lot of other boxes,” Buckley wrote in his NBA trade column. “He is a scoring threat from all over the floor, and he can create something out of nothing for himself or his teammates. All three of his past seasons have yielded 20 points, five assists and five rebounds per outing. Only nine other players across the Association can claim the same.

“If Miami could maintain workable spacing—coach Erik Spoelstra has steered this squad through some pretty cramped quarters before—this offense would have plenty of creativity and downhill attacking from Ingram, Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Bam Adebayo. The Heat would also wind up longer on the wing and potentially even more disruptive with their zone defense.”

The Pelicans are open to trading Ingram, who is in the final year of his contract. The forward will make $36 million next season. 

New Orleans doesn’t want to pay Ingram the maximum money he’s looking for. 

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

“There would be some challenge-trade elements to this deal, as New Orleans would essentially wager that it could squeeze more out of Herro than Miami has to this point,” Buckley wrote. “He’d be a fun pick-and-choose partner with Williamson and a gravitational off-ball shooter pulling attention away from Murray. Add yet another three-and-D wing to the fold with Martin plus a future first to help facilitate a big deal at a later date, perhaps one involving an impact center, and the Pelicans should feel comfortable with this return.”

Herro averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 2023-24 while shooting 44.1% from the field, 39.6% from beyond the arc and 85.6% from the free-throw line. He’ll make $29 million next season.