Grading a proposed deal in which the Miami Heat acquire Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans begin retooling around Zion Williamson.
Even after qualifying for the NBA Playoffs for the second year in three seasons, there's a chance that the New Orleans Pelicans could be pivoting in a new direction this offseason. With only one year remaining on his contract, the Pelicans have to make a strong decision on Ingram's future. If they're unwilling to give him a max contract extension, which may not even be on the table, there's a non-zero chance that Ingram elects to walk in free agency after the 2024-25 NBA season.
In an attempt to avoid that potential scenario, there's a chance the Pelicans elect to shop Ingram before it gets to that point. In a perfect storm scenario, the Pelicans could end up shopping Ingram this summer.
The New Orleans Pelicans may have to decide between Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram
In addition to the contract issues that the Pelicans have to iron out in regards to Ingram, there have also been rumors that the Pelicans may have to decide to build around Ingram or Zion Williamson sooner rather than later. Considering Ingram's situation, you'd have to imagine that will have to happen this offseason.
Running with that speculation, Bleacher Report offered up a bold proposal that would have the Pelicans trading Ingram to the Miami Heat (who could be a prime landing spot) this summer. Let's take a deeper look into that speculative trade.
The bold proposal between the Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans
Heading into the summer, there may not be a more aggressive team in the Eastern Conference than the Miami Heat. After taking a big step back this season, the Heat will likely be aiming for the stars with a potentially bold move via trade. Whether or not they have enough trade assets to make a big move remains to be seen. However, in this hypothetical move, the Heat would sense Tyler Herro, Jamie Jaquez Jr. (or Nikola Jovic), and a future first-round pick to New Orleans. In return, the Heat would land Brandon Ingram.
Before we dive into how this could work for both teams, from a value perspective, this seems like a pretty fair deal. Considering that Ingram is essentially an expiring contract, it would be foolish to expect such a deal to be much bigger than this one appears to be. If Ingram makes it clear that he's not going to sign an extension with the team and would much rather move on, this is a possibility that becomes more and more likely.
The Heat would seemingly get their missing All-Star piece and the Pelicans would start a retooling of their roster around Zion Williamson.
Grading the trade for the New Orleans Pelicans
Grade: B+
If the New Orleans Pelicans are forced to move on from Brandon Ingram this summer by his refusal to sign a contract extension, there's much worse they can do than this deal. For all his faults, Tyler Herro is a very good player. He's an elite 3-point shooter and can be a valuable microwave scorer off the bench for any team.
Adding one of the Heat's young players (Jamie Jaquez Jr. makes the most sense for the Pelicans moving forward) will be the key to this deal getting across the finish line. Even though he hit a wall during the second half of the season, there were plenty of flashes of brilliance from Jaquez all season long. He'd be an interesting young player to add to this team's already talented foundation. The future first-round pick that would be included would be icing on the cake.
If the Pelicans can come away with an established difference-maker (Herro), a promising young player (Jaquez), and a future first-round pick (preferably unprotected, though that's not a guarantee) in exchange for a player who may be counting his days before he leaves in free agency, this trade would be considered a pretty strong win for New Orleans.
Grading the trade for the Miami Heat
Grade: A
Considering the priorities and goals that the Miami Heat are likely to have heading into the offseason, Brandon Ingram is exactly the type of target that they should have. At 26 years old, he falls perfectly in line with the Bam Adebayo build and would signfincantly take pressure off of an aging Jimmy Butler. With a new core of Terry Rozier, Jimmy, Ingram, and Bam Adebayo, with still a strong supporting cast of Duncan Robinson, Nikola Jovic, and Kevin Love, the Heat would be a real player in the Eastern Conference.
They may not be a favorite but they'd at least have the talent pool to compete with the likes of the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks, which wasn't the case this season.
The front office could make some objections to parting ways with Jamie Jaquez Jr. but with how last season ended, the Heat can't afford to get all that picky when it comes to adding that potential final piece of the championship puzzle.
Perhaps what the Heat would like most about this potential deal is that the addition of Ingram would not only help the Jimmy window, but it would also set up this team for success down the line.