Reports suggest that Warriors are looking into trading for Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram

As the Golden State dynasty is slowly coming to an end, especially as we just witnessed one of the franchise’s poorest campaigns in the past decade, they will surely be looking to shake things up during the summer. Question is, who could they target and who would potentially leave the Bay Area?

According to several sources, the Warriors front office have Brandon Ingram on their radar. Their coach Steve Kerr had the opportunity of working with him during last year’s FIBA World Cup and knows what the team will gain if they are able to trade for the Pelicans star.

“For what [the Warriors are] going to be looking for, [Ingram] is the kind of guy they will be in the market for, because he is a player who can score but is a little bit damaged goods and maybe the price is lower than it ought to be,” an anonymous executive told insider Sean Deveney. “But you know, you keep him healthy, you’re careful with him, and he can carry you through. He is still young [26] and that is absolutely what they want.”

A pair of anonymous NBA execs recently explained why Pelicans star Brandon Ingram is a likely Warriors trade target this offseason 👀https://t.co/QoQpfRUNsn

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 13, 2024

“He is a wildcard. But we saw him, he played 30 minutes against Washington and put up 40 points. He did that twice. When he is right, he is a devastating scorer,” he added about his encounter with this alleged Western Conference boss.

If you come to think about it, this is precisely the kind of role player that Golden State should place next to Stephen Curry, who felt alone in the scoring department this past NBA campaign.

During this last regular season, the New Orleans guard averaged 20.8 points while dropping in 49.2% of his shots, to go along with his 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists over 32.9 minutes per match.

Probably the biggest worry surrounding Brandon’s future, is the fact that he’s struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. The 2020 NBA most Improved Player has competed in 225 out of his team’s last 318 contests. Unfortunately, his stats have fallen behind his career-high 24.7 points per game from last year.

Executives explain why Ingram’s versatility would fit perfectly into Steve Kerr’s team philosophy

Even though Brandon stands at six-foot-eight, he’s one of the most versatile athletes in the league. This is one of the main reasons why sources are suggesting that Steve Kerr would be delighted to have him in California, not only because he would become an additional scoring threat.

“You can play him at the 4, he can switch a lot, he can play the 3 or the 2,” another executive told Deveney. “He has become a very good playmaker, too. That is the kind of versatility Steve loves to have. You might question his toughness, but put him next to Draymond Green and that will change.

“New Orleans is not sure it wants to pay him. So, there are a lot of teams with an eye on him. There are probably 10-12 teams with their eyes on him in case he comes available, monitoring him, however you want to put it.”

The thing is, the Golden State organization is still trying to figure out if players like Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins will remain in the Bay Area, or if they will finally move on from them and look elsewhere for offensive talent.