Grade the Trade: Blazers turn Scoot into All-Star wing in latest proposal

Would the Blazers make this deal?

Moving the No. 3 pick is a difficult proposition. A number of all-time players have gone No. 3 overall, from Michael Jordan to Carmelo Anthony to Joel Embiid. Yet, if they are going to move the pick and give Lillard a co-star, moving it for an All-Star wing is a strong path for the Blazers to take.

Ingram had a career season last year, averaging 24.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. On the plus side, he shot 39 percent from deep, but on the other, he was shaky from the midrange. Defensively he has all of the tools but is slender and inconsistent.

He’s not a superstar, but as the No. 2 on a team with Lillard and Jerami Grant, he might just be set up for success.

In our construction of the deal, we included the No. 14 pick coming back from the Pelicans, because Simons is a talented young scorer in his own right and Ingram isn’t an established perennial All-Star. That may not be how the deal would ultimately be constructed, but the plus side is that the Blazers could still use that pick to either draft a center (such as Duke’s Dereck Lively II) or trade for an upgrade over Nurkic.

There probably isn’t a better player than Ingram who will be available on the open market, and he fits in perfectly with the core Portland is putting together. He is young enough to slowly take the torch from Lillard and be around for a very long time. This is a deal the Blazers should make.

Trade grade: A