1 Too little, 1 too much, 1 just right trade package for Brandon Ingram

During the lead-up to the NBA draft, there’s always a great deal of smoke about what teams actually want. The various leaks that get out to the national media are done by teams, players, and agents, all so that their respective parties can get into a situation that’s just right for them.

The most recent rumor to hit the internet about the Portland Trail Blazers is that the New Orleans Pelicans may be interested in the third pick, hoping to use it to draft G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson. The idea has caught fire, and even though the Charlotte Hornets could take Henderson second, their current buzz suggests they will draft Alabama forward Brandon Miller instead.

Portland has already told the national media it intends on building a contending team around Damian Lillard this season, which pencils the Blazers into (likely) moving their top draft pick. If they were to trade with the Pelicans, they’d want to make sure that they aren’t giving up too much of their present value while also setting themselves up for winning in the future.

Concocting a mock trade is always a difficult endeavor; some people will think you’ve given too little, while others will say there’s no way the other team would ever entertain that idea. Thus, it’s worth exploring what might be too little, too much, and just right for each of the teams involved in this hypothetical scenario to try and get some value sorted out for the future.

Too Little Trade Package: No. 3 pick for Brandon Ingram straight up

It’s not the most common trade package to see one-for-one trades in today’s NBA. Often, a team will have to throw in some sort of extra capital, whether it’s a bit player to match the salary or a small pick many years down the line to sweeten the deal.

That’s what makes a straight-up trade from the Blazers to the Pelicans a deal that doesn’t work for either of them.

From the Pelicans’ perspective, they’d assuredly want more for one of their stars. The team may be entering a retooling phase, but that doesn’t mean that their general manager David Griffin is going to ship his players out at pennies on the dollar.

That’s especially true when Ingram is an All-Star caliber player:

For the Trail Blazers, this deal is an easy sell. Ingram is a proven scorer in a position of need with some evolving passing chops and the frame to play defense at a solid level. He’s a long, lanky wing who can create shots for himself and others while demanding a great deal of attention from the defense.

He’d be one of the best players Lillard has played with in his Portland career as soon as he stepped on the floor.

To acquire him for so little, the Blazers could renounce a number of their cap holds on players like Cam Reddish and Matisse Thybulle, letting those players walk in free agency, and fit Ingram into their cap space. This wouldn’t be an ideal situation for Portland, either.

Given that they’d be clearly winning the trade and only giving up one major asset, this wouldn’t be just right for the Pelicans, who would understandably hold a hard line and demand they get a bit more in return.

Too Much Trade Package: Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, and No. 3 for Brandon Ingram

In the spirit of trying to “win” a trade, NBA teams will often anchor high with their initial asking price for a star player. Sometimes their stars go for that lofty asking price, like Kevin Durant going for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and a bevy of picks.

Other times the package is much smaller, like what the San Antonio Spurs got for Kawhi Leonard.

If the Pelicans are intent on trying to squeeze as much value out of the Blazers as possible, they’d ask for Shaedon Sharpe in any trade. Sharpe didn’t make an NBA All-Rookie team, but by the end of the season, he’d flashed a massive ceiling as a scoring wing and seemed to have established himself as one of the young studs to watch next year in the league:

A package of Sharpe, Simons, and, in theory, Scoot Henderson, would be the type of offer that a team would put together to chase a star like Durant, Jayson Tatum, or Luka Doncic. For Brandon Ingram, a one-time All-Star who hasn’t made an All-NBA team, it would be an overpay that would set the Blazers back for a few years and hurt their playoff chances.

While it’s hard to find an exact trade package that would fit both teams just right, this wouldn’t be that deal, as the Trail Blazers would give up too much in their quest to give Lillard the second star he’s craved for so long.

Just Right Trade Package: Anfernee Simons and #3 pick for Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones

In any trade that involves the third pick, the Blazers will likely have to give up more than just the pick to get a star player back in a trade. Not only for salary purposes, but because whichever NBA team is trying to acquire the top draft pick will want to feel like they won the trade as well.

The Pelicans have fluctuated between looking like a future contender and a team that peaked too soon in a loaded Western Conference. They have great stars to build around in Ingram and Zion Williamson, young prospects in Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy III, and some key veterans like CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas.

Even with this collection of talent, they’re still in need of a true point guard who can score the ball and create for others.

That’s what’s inspiring the Pelicans to go for Scoot. By adding another young guard like Simons, who scored over 20 points per game last season, New Orleans can combine its young star forward in Williamson with a pair of young guards in Henderson and Simons who are more along his developmental track.

The Blazers would get back both a star in Ingram and a defensive stopper in Herb Jones, who still has some three-and-D upside. Both wings would give the team elements they haven’t had in a few years, as a second star next to Lillard and a defensive stopper younger and better than Thybulle is worth giving up two good young prospects for a fit that’s just right.