Grade the Trade: Golden State Warriors acquire 25-year-old All-Star in proposed deal

In a recent article for Fadeaway World, writer Lee Tran proposes that the Warriors make a move for talented New Orleans Pelicans’ scorer Brandon Ingram. It would be a bold trade from both sides, but one that does hold some possibility depending on how the season begins. Here’s what the trade looks like:

While Ingram’s sole All-Star appearance came three years ago, there’s little doubt that when on the floor, he’s retained his stature as that level of player. The prime reason Ingram hasn’t added to his résumé is the health concerns that are associated with him — he’s missed over 80 games in the last three seasons.

With Zion Williamson missing the majority of last season, Ingram took a far greater offensive workload across his 45 games. He averaged a career-high 24.7 points per game, and developed further playmaking chops with a career-high 5.8 assists per game.

Defensively he’s hardly a lockdown guy, but that may also emanate from the workload he’s often had to carry on offense. His length and athleticism makes him theoretically switchable across the 2-4 positions, and perhaps there’s untapped potential on that end that could be unearthed in a new system.

He’s a quality player who, despite being around for what seems like a long time, is still only 25-years-old. So why would the Pelicans consider moving a player who is arguably capable of being the second-best player on a championship team?