Oklahoma Metropolis not wants a star on its roster, however the concept of signing an elite scorer to begin or be the group’s sixth man does not appear to be the worst concept. In current mock commerce, the Thunder are anticipated to obtain the New Orleans Pelicans ahead Brandon Ingram.
In return, the Thunder would surrender a trio of younger gamers, together with guards Aaron Wiggins and Lu Dort and ahead Ousmane Dieng. The deal would additionally ship a protected top-five first-round decide in 2027 to New Orleans.
Ingram spent the final six seasons with the Pelicans and continued to point out, regardless of his group’s success, that he is without doubt one of the most gifted scorers within the NBA. This yr, he averages 22.2 factors and 5.6 rebounds with 46.5% taking pictures success. Throughout his nine-year skilled profession, Ingram constantly demonstrated that he might rating the ball at a excessive stage and be an efficient participant.
Commerce rumors have swirled round Ingram for a while. Regardless of buying expertise to encompass Ingram in New Orleans, the Pelicans struggled to win video games. The Pelicans are 5-21 this season, which is the worst report within the Western Convention. Though Ingram had one other strong season, his group could not discover a option to win video games.
Ingram’s standing in New Orleans seems to have been in query for a while, however the groups’ lack of success could possibly be an indicator of Ingram’s commerce availability at this yr’s deadline. Ingram is within the closing yr of his contract, incomes $36 million in his closing season below contract.
That makes his commerce availability to OKC extra intriguing. In the event that they have been to commerce for him, he would have the choice to go away in free company after a short while with the group. The Thunder will not be actively in search of expertise and whereas Ingram is a flexible, high-level scorer, discovering a task for him could possibly be a problem.
Throughout his profession, Ingram has solely performed lower than half-hour per recreation in a season as soon as throughout his rookie yr. That streak will surely be in jeopardy if he have been to maneuver to the Thunder, which might push Ingram away from a possible transfer to Oklahoma Metropolis. The other situation could be Ingram’s potential want to play for a contending group. He solely made the playoffs twice throughout his six years in New Orleans, each ending in first-round eliminations.
There’s a giant group of gamers the Thunder might add to extend their possibilities of successful the NBA title. There’s additionally an argument that due to their early season success, they need not do something on the deadline. OKC is under no circumstances an ideal group, however proper now they’ve a components for successful basketball video games. Making a commerce midseason would not essentially disrupt that, however there’s an opportunity it might. The strikes, or lack thereof, that Sam Presti and the Oklahoma Metropolis entrance workplace select to take earlier than the deadline will likely be one thing to observe because it will get nearer.
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