5 trades for New Orleans Pelicans to move up and draft Scoot Henderson

5 trades for the New Orleans Pelicans to move up and draft Scoot Henderson: Brandon Ingram to the Charlotte Hornets

If the Charlotte Hornets feel as though they are ready to compete for the playoffs, asking the New Orleans Pelicans for Brandon Ingram in a trade would make sense.

Trading Ingram by himself for the second pick would be a solid deal for the Pelicans, who would get to reshape their roster around Scoot Henderson and Zion Williamson.

Getting back Gordon Hayward in order to match salaries would ensure that they keep up a solid forward rotation, and since he’ll be in the final year of his contract, New Orleans doesn’t have to worry about that, either.

As for Charlotte, this would be a nice way to solidify improvement.

For the past few seasons, the Hornets have been unable to get over the hump with LaMelo Ball and their current core. And in the 2022-23 season, they took a massive step backward.

However, with Ball on the roster and Miles Bridges potentially making a return to the court, they could be ready to push for the postseason. Ingram would undoubtedly help them do that, giving them a go-to scoring option.

The core of Ball, Ingram, and Bridges should be more than enough to help Charlotte make a run at the playoffs, and if Charlotte’s youngsters improve, they could do even more than that.

Potential starting lineups

Pelicans: Scoot Henderson, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, Zion Williamson, Jonas Valanciunas

Hornets: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Brandon Ingram, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams