With Brandon Ingram's days in New Orleans looking like they are numbered, many people (including us) have discussed the possibility of the Sacramento Kings trading for the one-time All-Star and former 2019-20 Most Improved Player of the Year.
But what are the benefits of trading for Ingram? What are the downsides? In this article, we avoid talking about the specifics of what a potential Ingram trade would look like (although, as you can see below, I have floated some ideas before), and instead, we will focus on the pros and cons of bringing Ingram to Sacramento.
Who says no? pic.twitter.com/pZ23OiFyxd
— Mat Issa (@matissa15) June 14, 2024
Reason #1 For Trading For Ingram: Functional Size
Like with Kyle Kuzma, the main reason the Kings would want to trade for Ingram is that he offers them some much-needed functional size.
For those who aren't aware of what we mean when say "functional size," we are talking about large humans who can defend, offer secondary rim protection, put the ball on the floor, and shoot. Ingram isn't a great shooter (more on this in a bit), but he does all those other things pretty well.
Last season, Ingram was in the 70th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (DEF EPM), the 59th percentile in block rate, the 91st percentile in drives volume, and the 83rd percentile in drives true shooting. And remember, he does all this while being 6'9 (with a condor-like 7'3 wingspan).