Grade the trade pitch: Kings acquire Brandon Ingram to pair with Fox & Sabonis
By Matt John
The Sacramento Kings have one of the NBA's savviest offensive duos with De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Adding another scorer to that duo could vault them to the next level. It would just depend on who.
There's likely going to be plenty of chaos this upcoming offseason. Teams who don't have a contender status will likely try to do what they can to get under the NBA's tax aprons. Others will try to reach that contender's status by any means necessary. The Kings are in an interesting position there.
An upgrade would surely be nice, but whether it's worth it would depend on who they would get back and what would be traded for him. Enter Brandon Ingram.
Ingram's trade availability is no longer pure speculation. NBA Insider Marc Stein reported that there is "a growing belief leaguewide that Pelicans will aggressively explore the trade market for Brandon Ingram before next season" back on May 12. Ingram was once drafted with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Lakers and has made an All-Star team.
Ingram has come up before as one of the few hypothetical stars the Kings could target. As far as what they could get out of him, one hypothetical deal would send Ingram to the Kings
Analyst proposed a trade that would give Kings an upgrade in Ingram
Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey proposed a trade that would send Ingram to the Kings in exchange for Harrison Barnes, Kevin Huerter, and the Kings their 2027 first-round pick. Bailey explained Ingram's fit with the Kings.
"He'd be closer to a third option with the Sacramento Kings, which means he'd probably face the opposition's best perimeter defender less often than he has in New Orleans. And he's a far better creator and distributor than either Harrison Barnes or Kevin Huerter.
"Losing the shooting of those two isn't ideal, but having three playmakers with Ingram, De'Aaron Fox, and Domantas Sabonis would give Sacramento one of the league's more unpredictable offenses," Bailey wrote.
The Kings had the NBA's 14th-best offensive rating despite having Fox and Sabonis, indicating that more help is needed. Ingram not only gives them another scorer, but makes the offense more dynamic since he is a wing scorer. Fox and Sabonis are scorers in their own ways, and Ingram gives them another variation on shot creation.