5 Players Lakers Should Target on the Trade Market This Offseason
By Cem Yolbulan
Brandon Ingram
This is not as good of a fit as the other names on this list. Brandon Ingram is not a great off-ball player as he likes to hold the ball, get to his spots, and rise up for mid-rangers. He can obviously hit three-pointers but he doesn't have the off-ball gravity the previous names on this list have. This makes him a little trickier to fit around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Whether the Lakers should try to bring Brandon Ingram back to Los Angeles depends on what it would require to trade for him. Ingram has one more season left on his contract and he is due $36 million for the 2024-25 season.
The Lakers can match salaries easily using Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves. Whether they have to give multiple first-round picks in addition will determine whether the deal is worth it because the Lakers would also theoretically have to give Ingram a long-term contract extension after bringing him in.
The Pelicans are surely looking to make a big trade this summer. CJ McCollum and Ingram are the two most obvious candidates to be moved. Ingram, who was the second-overall pick of the Lakers in the 2016 NBA Draft and spent the first three seasons of his career in LA, could potentially return as a much more complete player and an All-Star.
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