Heat Trade Pitch Swaps Tyler Herro, 1st-Round Pick for Elite $158 Million Scorer

“Ingram doesn’t have the high-volume three-ball the Heat would ideally want, but he checks a lot of other boxes. He is a scoring threat from all over the floor, and he can create something out of nothing for himself or his teammates,” Buckley wrote. “If Miami could maintain workable spacing … this offense would have plenty of creativity and downhill attacking from Ingram, Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Bam Adebayo. The Heat would also wind up longer on the wing and potentially even more disruptive with their zone defense.”

Pelicans Primed to Make Major Trade Involving Former All-Star Forward

Ingram is entering the final season of a five-year, $158 million contract in 2024-25 and will become and unrestricted free agent next summer if New Orleans chooses not to extend him.

Although he is only a one-time All-Star, Ingram will almost certainly demand a max deal of four years and $208 million from his current team. However, William Guillroy of The Athletic reported last month that the Pelicans are unlikely to grant the combo forward his financial wish.

“Considering their current and future financial situation, the Pelicans are unlikely to offer him that maximum deal this offseason, league sources tell The Athletic,” Guillroy wrote on June 3.

Guillroy added that the best way for the Pelicans to make a needed upgrade to the roster is to trade Ingram — particularly following a first-round sweep at the hands of the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 playoffs, during which defensive specialist Lou Dort swallowed up Ingram by holding him to 14.3 points per game on 34.5% shooting.

“After Ingram’s ineffectiveness against one of the Western Conference’s top teams — now and in the future — it took no time for questions to start popping up about his future,” Guillroy wrote. “There’s no question the Pelicans need to make some changes to the roster, and their best way to add a significant piece is to move Ingram in a trade this summer.”

Brandon Ingram Has Proven Himself High-Level NBA Scorer Over Past 5 Years

That paradigm changed somewhat after the Pelicans dealt a couple of first-round picks and a handful of players headlined by Larry Nance Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks in return for former All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. But even still, if New Orleans isn’t interested in paying Ingram top dollar then trading him now for assets before he walks of his own accord next summer is the correct play.

And to be fair to Ingram, his performance against the Thunder was arguably the lowest point of an otherwise stellar career on the offensive side of the floor — not to mention impacted by a recent knee injury. Ingram averaged 20.8 points per game last season, which was his lowest total in the past five campaigns. He’s put up 23.8 points per contest on two different occasions and laid in a career-high 24.7 points per night in 2022-23, according to Basketball Reference.

Ingram is also a decent playmaker, averaging 5.7 assists last season and 4.3 assists per game over the course of his eight-year NBA career. At 6-foot-8, he is a reasonable rebounder with a professional mark of 5.2 boards per outing.

Ingram, who will play next season at 27 years old, is a serviceable 3-point shooter at 36.2% from behind the arc on 3.7 attempts for his career. A transition to the Heat might necessitate a bump in 3-point tries to the tune of two or three more shots from deep per night, but that isn’t a change that is likely to scare a seasoned talent like Ingram who does much of his damage as a jump shooter anyway.

Brandon Ingram Trade Would Help Heat Guard Against Departure of Jimmy Butler

Ingram is a more consistent offensive threat than Herro, connecting on 5.1% more of his field goal attempts last season than did the Heat guard (49.2% compared to 44.1%). There is also the question of Butler for Miami to consider.

Butler and the Heat were unable to come to terms on a contract extension this summer, which means the team’s leader of the past five seasons will hit unrestricted free agency next offseason unless a deal gets done. Adding a player like Ingram now could bolster the offense enough to elevate Miami back into a stronger position to compete in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25.

Beyond that, inking Ingram to a longterm deal would allow the Heat to pair a wing scorer with legitimate defensive length alongside Adebayo, who recently inked a max deal to remain in Miami for the long haul. The franchise could try a sign-and-trade option with Butler next summer if it decides to move on, which would bring some assets back for the surefire future Hall of Fame player, or perhaps ink its veteran leader to a more team-friendly contract than he is currently seeking.

The scenario isn’t perfect for the Heat, but it is hard to argue that flipping a first-round pick five years down the road along with Herro and Martin — the latter of whom has opted out of the final year of his contract and is almost certainly on the way out of South Florida anyway — for Ingram doesn’t make Miami a more competitive team right now.