5 Expensive players the Raptors could take back in a Bruce Brown trade

No. 1: Brandon Ingram

Andrew Wiggins and Michael Porter Jr. are buy low opportunities, players with plenty of upside on expensive contracts. D'Andre Hunter and Rui Hachimura are simply overpaid and mechanisms for their teams to get back a player like Bruce Brown.

Brandon Ingram is a completely different category of player, an All-Star on an expiring contract of his own looking for a major payday next summer. The New Orleans Pelicans have a glut of forwards and no way to play, and certainly not pay, all of them. Ingram and his demands for a max deal seem to be the odd one out, but that requires the Pelicans working out a deal with a team open to re-signing him.

Could that team be the Toronto Raptors? He and Scottie Barnes would be a potent pairing on the forward line, shifting RJ Barrett to his more natural shooting guard position and giving the team four capable shot creators on the perimeter. Ingram's stock is down after injuries and the Pelicans' inability to break through in the playoffs, and it's unlikely he has the leverage to get a full max deal next summer.

If the Raptors trade for him, they can have his Birds rights and the leverage to get him on more of a value contract for the long-term. That may be an avenue worth exploring, as it's hard for a team like the Raptors to add an All-Star player at forward, even if Ingram is more in the 30-45 range of NBA players than the 15-25.

Attaching a first-round pick to Bruce Brown's contract may or may not be enough to get something done with the Pelicans, but it's an idea to consider, and a creative way to use Brown's salary in a trade.