Grade the Trade: Raptors land unwanted All-Star in questionable new proposal
Laying out the trade
If the Pelicans are going to trade from their position of strength to address their need, then they need to decide which forward to trade in order to address the starting center position.
The answer has been the worst-kept secret on the NBA trade market: the Pelicans are ready to move on from Brandon Ingram. The onetime All-Star doesn't provide the elite on-ball offense of Zion Williamson nor the All-league defense of Herb Jones, and the upside of Trey Murphy III as a two-way wing is higher than Ingram's.
That's not to say that Ingram isn't an extremely talented basketball player at a premium position; the 26-year old has averaged 23.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists in his five seasons in the Big Easy. Last year was his lowest output as he sacrificed some shots to Zion and McCollum, but he was still very efficient.
The Pelicans don't want to pay Ingram his next contract, however, as he is looking for a max deal and that's a punitive amount of money to pay him as they are also needing to pay the rest of the roster and find a starting center somewhere other than Goodwill.
That's the logic behind the Pelicans looking to trade Ingram, and it's possible that they call up the Raptors and offer to make a deal. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report built such a deal out, and this is what it looks like:
Ingram Brown Poeltl Raps Pels trade
The Pelicans move on from Ingram and land their starting center, a bruising rim protector in Jakob Poeltl to protect the back line and rebound the basketball. They also get Bruce Brown, a playmaking wing to add to the rotation and defend opposing guards, a need after the team moved on from Dyson Daniels in the Dejounte Murray trade.
The real boon for the Pelicans here is that, instead of paying Ingram $50 million per season moving forward, they pay Poeltl $20 and get to move on from Brown next summer. For a win-now team with a massive hole at center, this deal is as good as it gets.
What about Toronto - does this trade make sense for them? (Spoiler alert: it does not).