NBA Rumors: Analyzing Trade Buzz on Trae Young, Brandon Ingram and More
The 2024 NBA offseason is officially operational.
The draft lottery is in the books, the combine is up and running and the rumor mill is every bit as active as you'd expect.
Let's break down the latest buzz on the trade market.
Brandon Ingram on the Move?
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The New Orleans Pelicans were healthier this season than they'd been in years, but while their competitiveness perked up—.598 winning percentage, best since 2008-09—their fate didn't really change. An untimely injury to Zion Williamson didn't help matters, but New Orleans was still swept out of the opening round and could be in the mood for major change now.
Williamson's co-star Brandon Ingram is approaching the final season of his contract, and while there's a chance he'll extend his stay, it sounds like there's an even better one he'll spend the 2024-25 campaign elsewhere. The Pelicans are reportedly expected to "aggressively explore" an Ingram trade this offseason, per NBA insider Marc Stein.
It'd be interesting to know how much, if at all, extension talks play into this. New Orleans is reportedly "open" to extending his deal, but it is not willing to give him a full max contract, per Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune. Ingram, the No. 2 pick in 2016, made 79 appearances as a rookie but has missed double-digit games in every season since.
How much of a discount would the Pelicans need to feel comfortable about paying him? Or are they already of the mindset that he isn't the ideal player to pair with Williamson? Aggressively exploring a trade feels like more than just developing a contingency plan in case extension talks go awry.
Trae Young
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The basketball gods shined on the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday and made them major winners at the draft lottery. Despite having just a three percent chance of doing so, the Hawks made an odds-defying leap all the way to the No. 1 pick.
It's a massive win for the franchise, which had never previously collected the draft lottery's jackpot prize. It's also a potentially massive pivot point, as this could further incentivize the Hawks to dramatically shake up their roster and perhaps try building around someone other than current face of the franchise Trae Young.
"They had Dejounte Murray in trade talks. I think the possibility of trade talks including Trae Young in this spring and into the summer are very real, too," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported during the lottery.
Young's name isn't new to the rumor mill, but this feels like a potentially significant step toward an actual trade. The Hawks have tried and mostly failed for years to build a winner around the 6'1", offense-only star, yet there could absolutely be other front offices out there who think they can succeed where Atlanta has failed.
Sixers, Knicks Shopping Picks?
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The NBA draft is often a hotbed for trades, and this year could be even more active than most.
Without a consensus top prospect on the board, teams might be more willing to move out of prime draft positions than normal. The early trade buzz, though, revolves around two win-now teams further down the board.
The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks are both "seen league-wide" as candidates to trade their picks, per The Athletic's Sam Vecenie. There is a belief that the 76ers, who have the 16th pick, will either "need to move their pick for a star, or they'll need to create enough cap space to add a star and more talent in free agency." The Knicks, who have picks Nos. 24 and 25, might have little appetite for two first-round rookies and could also explore ways "to complete trades involving future draft picks."
This feels like only the beginning, though. Trade rumblings are sure to only increase as the calendar moves closer toward the opening of the talent grab on June 26.
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