As the NBA off-season draws to a close, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram’s future is one of the last things left to be decided in the NBA. Unfortunately, it looks like he is at a crossroads.

To be clear, Ingram is not a bad player. The 26 year-old wing posted 20.8 points, 5.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 stocks on 49.2/35.5/80.1 shooting splits and a true shooting percentage of 57.8% in 2023-24. However, those numbers are noticeably worse than the 24.7 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds on 48.4/39/88.2 splits he posted in 2022-23. Given their disappointing first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans need to be considering changes. It’s why they have refused to give their starting small forward the contract he is seeking.

Ingram is eligible for a four-year, $207.8 million extension that can be signed between now and June 30. He can also test free agency next offseason and sign a five-year deal worth up to $269.1 million. Neither deal looks particularly likely at this stage. He is coming off a particularly dreadful series against the Thunder, where he put up 14.3 points on 34.5% shooting while only making two three-pointers in the series. The Pelicans don’t want to give him a $200+ million dollar deal and Ingram will not accept anything less. At this stage, neither Ingram nor the Pelicans appear ready to blink. A trade seems like the only option.

Now, it does not appear that a trade is on the horizon. ESPN’s Zach Lowe had this to say about an Ingram trade on the July 29th episode of his podcast, the Lowe Post.

“I haven’t really heard much buzz that the Pelicans are psyched about giving him that massive of an extension. I also haven’t heard much buzz … about Brandon Ingram being traded anywhere imminently.”

Where could Ingram end up? One team that has been linked to Ingram in the past is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Previous reporting on June 28th by Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports had this to say about the Cavaliers’ interest.

“Cleveland continues to be mentioned by league personnel as a possible alternative for Ingram, but there’s no straightforward path to making such a deal work with the Cavaliers. While Cleveland holds interest in Ingram and values his skillset, Cavs personnel have maintained a reluctance to breaking up the team’s core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, as NBA figures continue preparing for Mitchell to sign a lucrative extension. Without parting with Allen, who’s long been on New Orleans’ radar, it’s difficult to find a path to bring Ingram to Northeast Ohio.”

That was before the Cavs handed Allen a 3-year, $91 million dollar contract extension that keeps him under contract for the next five seasons. I think this actually makes him a good trade candidate. Teams now know exactly what his salary is going to be for the foreseeable future. It allows them to plan for his salary in future years. Head coach Kenny Atkinson is reportedly a fan of what Allen brings to the roster alongside forward Evan Mobley, but that means little at this time of the year. Things are fluid and the right deal can easily change minds.

The Pelicans are also known to be interested in Allen’s services. Evan Dammarell of ClutchPoints had this to say about their pursuit of the center:

“Sources tell ClutchPoints that the New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets checked in on Allen’s availability. But although there’s interest, conversations didn’t go far.”

Cleveland could have interest in Ingram as the fourth star around their core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. He’s an athletic forward with length and floor spacing who has shown signs of being a valuable post-season option. Look no further than the 27-6-6 he averaged against Phoenix in the 2022 playoffs. If the price to acquire him is low, the Cavaliers could make the deal. However, it would help to have a third team in order to preserve the financial flexibility of both teams.

That third team could be Atlanta. Unlike New Orleans or Cleveland, they have a surplus of centers. Carrying four centers – Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, Larry Nance Jr and Cody Zeller – is not a good use of resources and Atlanta will need to move one or multiple of them. This could be a prime opportunity to do so.

Given Atlanta’s interest in trimming down its center rotation, New Orleans’ interest in getting a starting center back for Ingram and Cleveland’s need to add the right pieces for a deep playoff run, a three-team deal could make some sense. What would that deal look like?

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks should do or will do. That is all.

Hawks get: Georges Niang, Jordan Hawkins

Pelicans get: Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Garrison Mathews, 2025 2nd round pick (via Milwaukee, via Cleveland), 2025 2nd round pick (via Minnesota, via Atlanta)

Cavs get: Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr, Matt Ryan

Why the Hawks would do this deal: Shooting is quietly somewhat of a weakness for the Hawks. Despite being a top-10 team in both three-point attempts and frequency last season, the Hawks were only 17th in three-point percentage at 36.4%. They could definitely use more shooting – acquiring three quality shooters would go a long way towards fixing that. Jordan Hawkins is the most exciting acquisition of the trio due to his combination of youth and ability. The 22 year-old guard torched defenses from behind the arc as a rookie, hitting 36.6% of his 4.4 attempts from three-point range per game. Hawkins also shows promise as a movement shooter, finishing in the 88th percentile for shooting coming off of a screen. He’s an incredibly advanced shooter for his age and solid rebounder, but his value is currently capped because of his defensive limitations. At 6’5 with a 6’6 wingspan, he does have defensive tools. He just needs to learn how to use them better. Merrill and Niang are typical veteran shooters who can bring an offensive spark off the bench. Before a dissapointing campaign with Cleveland, Niang hit 40% or more of his threes for five straight seasons. He does not have the speed to keep up with guards or forwards, but can use his 6’7 frame to guard forwards and centers.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: Both Niang and Hawkins have defensive concerns and could easily become weak links on Atlanta’s already-suspectible defense. Niang also had a down season from deep for the Cavs (37.6% on five attempts a game). He frequently showed poor shot selection and brings very little if his shot is not falling. There’s a good chance Atlanta would move him to another team or waive him outright, which complicates his value. Outside of Young, the Hawks also already have interesting guard options in Kobe Bufkin and Dyson Daniels, not to mention Bogdan Bogdanovic. This could be a situation that is complicated by a variety of players to balance.

Why the Pelicans would do this deal: This move gives the Pelicans an absolutely lethal starting five with good depth. A lineup of Dejounte Murray – Trey Murphy III – Herb Jones – Zion Williamson – Jarrett Allen would be among the NBA’s best defenses while also featuring plenty of scoring and spacing. Moving on from Ingram frees up minutes for Murphy and Jones to continue their development on the offensive end. It would also reduce the Pelicans’ reliance on C.J McCollum and allow him to be used as a highly effective sixth man. Bringing a 42.9% shooter on a staggering 8.4 attempts from deep off the bench is something few NBA teams can claim to possess. That’s to say nothing of LeVert, whose shooting variance is capable of swinging games. When his shot is going, he’s a combo guard with size who can hold his own on defense. Although the Pelicans currently feel like an afterthought in the West, this team could grab a top-six seed and make noise in the playoffs. It also gives them the depth to manage a Zion injury during the regular season. Garrison Mathews is not a one-for-one replacement for Hawkins, but he hit 44% of his 2.9 attempts per game and is capable of spacing the floor.

Why the Pelicans would not do this deal: The Pelicans need to conserve space for Murphy’s inevitable extension and Allen’s salary might cause problems with that. It also blocks promising rookie center Yves Missi’s path to playing time. Furthermore, Hawkins is a legitimately special shooter and the Pelicans would likely be somewhat hesitant to be giving up on him for such a meagre price. They can likely afford to do so given that LeVert and McCollum become bench pieces, but it would be tough to lose him nonetheless.

Why the Cavaliers would do this deal: If they bring back Isaac Okoro, the Cavs have a team capable of challenging for a top-four seed in the East. A starting lineup of Garland – Mitchell – Max Strus – Ingram – Mobley give the Cavs a five-out lineup where four of the starters can create their own offense. It’s a team capable of torching teams on offense while giving Mobley the chance to stick at center. Ingram fits perfectly as a third playmaker, recording 5.7 assists to 2.5 turnovers. He has shown the ability to execute complex skip passes and find corner shooters with ease. Ingram’s hesitance to shoot three-pointers on high volume has been heavily discussed, but he was efficient on good volume from deep (39.1% on 6.2 attempts a game) when working off a primary playmaker in Jrue Holiday. He would have a similar set-up in Cleveland. Ingram is not a high-level defender, but graded out as an average defender with a -0.3 defensive box plus-minus. Having Mobley behind him to deter opponents at the rim would undoubtedly allow him to use his length to play a more aggressive brand of defense. Subtracting Niang from the rotation also takes away one less player for opponents to target on defense. The contributions of Larry Nance also cannot be ignored. He can step in for Mobley at the center spot, offers connective passing with good basketball IQ and can hit the open threes that opponents are comfortable conceding to Allen. Matt Ryan (no, not the quarterback) is also a solid wing shooter who hit 45.1% of his 3.3 attemps from deep last season. Ryan offers little on defense, but it likely will not be an issue in the regular season. Assuming Okoro, Sam Merrill and Dean Wade round out the rest of the playoff rotation, the only player who can really be targeted on defense in Cleveland’s top eight is Garland.

Why the Cavaliers would not do this deal: The biggest obstacle for this deal is the Cavaliers’ willingness – or lack thereof – to give Ingram the long-term extension he wants. However, I’d argue that the team willing to pay Ingram that money is not obvious at this stage. It would be smarter for Ingram to sign a two-year deal with a player option in the second year. If he shows that he can increase his three-point volume and play solid defense while playing in roughly 65-70 games during the regular season, he’ll have a much better shot at landing a long-term deal in free agency. It’s unclear if a player like Ingram could land a deal that pays him $50 million dollars a year under the new CBA, but his negotiation position for that deal at the moment is rather weak. If he has a good season and opts out, the Cavaliers might have to let him walk. They would have expensive deals for Mitchell, Garland and Mobley to consider and it would be difficult to juggle four big contracts under the new CBA rules.