NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Star trade considered 'inevitable' heading into offseason

NBA Trade Rumors: One star trade considered to be 'inevitable' heading into the start of the NBA offseason.

With still a little more than a month before the official start of the NBA offseason, there are many terams that are likely getting a head start before big decisions need to be made. The New Orleans Pelicans appear to be one of those teams. After losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs for the second time in three seasons, New Orleans could be preparing to shake up their roster a bit this offseason.

Among the possible changes is the potential for a Brandon Ingram trade. With every passing day, it appears to be more and more of a possibility.

According to NBA reporter Marc Stein, there's a growing sentiment around the league that suggests the Pelicans trading Ingram this offseason is more of an "inevitability" than a possibility and that there's already an early trade market developing for the 26-year-old wing.

A Brandon Ingram trade appears to be on the way this offseason

Ingram is entering the final year of his contract with the Pelicans and is likely to demand a max contract extension. However, New Orleans has been hesitant to offer Ingram such a deal. Naturally, that seems like a perfect storm for an offseason trade.

The big question is whether or not a team is going to be able to meet the demand that the Pelicans will have in the way of an asking price. The key toward a potential Ingram trade is not only do a suitor have to be willing to meet the Pelicans asking price but they then also have to be prepared to offer Ingram the contract extension he's looking for.

It'd be quite foolish for any team to trade for Ingram without the guarantee that he would sign long-term with them, and that goes for both sides. There has to be at least some mutual interest between both sides for something to work.

But that could end up being easier said than done. At least on paper, it does seem as if a trade is the only resolution to this tug-of-war between the Pelicans and Ingram.

It's still early and the offseason technically hasn't arrived, but all signs continue to point to an Ingram trade as something that will go down at some point over the next few months. The question now is, where will he be traded to? At this point, that's almost impossible to predict.