Ranking all of Brandon Ingram's proposed top trade suitors

It was never a secret that Brandon Ingram is on the trading block for the New Orleans Pelicans this season. The team's brass failed to get an extension done with him over the summer. They technically have until the end of the league year, June 30, to reach an agreement with Ingram and his camp, but that's not the only deadline they're working against.

If the Pelicans don't sign Ingram to a new deal before the end of the season, he'll become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. At that point, New Orleans will run the risk of having him walk away in free agency, essentially losing him with nothing in return. To avoid that, the Pelicans can either extend him or move him before February's trade deadline. Considering that Ingram has been seeking a $200 million deal that New Orleans has been unwilling to meet, it seems like they really only have one option.

As we march through the season, the trade market should be heating up soon, especially after December 15 when all of the newly signed free agents become eligible to be dealt. It seems that Ingram is preparing for some big career changes too, as he recently parted ways with his representation, following Zion Williamson's lead. Brandon Ingram, a borderline All-Star, should have plenty of suitors. Bleacher Report recently released their proposed top three trade targets for every team in the NBA, and Brandon Ingram makes multiple appearances.

Brandon Ingram could help a lot of NBA teams

4. Los Angeles Clippers

Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz compiled the list of each team's hypothetical trade targets and he landed on Brandon Ingram for the Los Angeles Clippers, alongside Zach LaVine and Kyle Kuzma. This one makes sense in theory. Ingram is an All-Star-caliber talent in the midst of his prime, so it's only natural that any team looking to acquire him would be one looking to compete sooner rather than later.

The Clippers are looking to contend for a title now, with a core built around two aging stars in Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. The Beard has played admirably, keeping the Clips afloat amid Kawhi's absence with a mysterious knee injury. But LA looks like they could use another piece, even when Leonard returns.

Ingram would certainly provide another reliable scorer for a team that needs one. That said, the fit there is far from perfect. Ingram prefers to do his work on the ball and in the midrange, just like Kawhi. The Clips have been surprisingly competent so far this season largely because of their impressive defense. Integrating Ingram would likely drag down their effectiveness on that side of the ball.

3. Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are in a familiar place as a young team that looks to be accelerating their timeline around a bona fide stud in Cade Cunningham. Simply put, they may be doing what the Pelicans tried to do around Zion, and Bleacher Report has posited that they can do this in part by trading for Brandon Ingram.

At 27 years old, Ingram is still young enough to feature next to Cade throughout the entirety of his prime if that's what the Pistons wanted to do. The fit is far from seamless, though. Cade is more than a capable outside shooter, but he's at his best when he's getting downhill, carving up opposing defenses at a glacial pace as he probes into the lane. Sliding Ingram into their lineup would take up a lot of real estate that Cunningham likes to operate in.

Still, Ingram is an improved shooter and would give Detroit their most reliable shot creator aside from Cade. BI would be questionably redundant next to Tobias Harris, though, unless he were to head back to New Orleans in the deal (which, yuck).

2. Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are a team that's desperate to find a way to get over the hump. They've been to the Finals twice in the Jimmy Butler era but left empty-handed both times. They clearly have enough talent under legendary Head Coach Erik Spoelstra to go all the way, but a lack of offensive creation has kept them from reaching the pinnacle.

Ingram would definitely help in that department as an established self-starter with the ball in his hands. Miami has more than enough defensive talent and scheming to cover for his insufficiencies on that end too. Unfortunately, his fit alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo could be a recipe for disaster.

The Heat would need at least one of them to become at least a league-average outside shooter in order to maximize a coexistence with Ingram. At this point in their careers, it's unlikely, but if anyone would be able to overcome the potential potholes of that trio, it'd be Coach Spo.

1. Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors refuse to lie down in the Stephen Curry era. Nearly a decade later from the start of their dynasty, Curry and the Dubs are back in a familiar place: at the top of the Western Conference. They've done so by returning to their roots, overwhelming teams with a creative, shutdown defense and regular barrages from behind the 3-point line.

The Warriors do seem to need another reliable on-ball creator aside from Steph, though, which is how Ingram could be a difference-maker for them. Golden State only has one player who can put the ball on the floor and regularly score inside the arc efficiently. Ingram would instantly be their second-best shot creator, and they have the scheming and personnel to allow him to thrive in the midrange and as a slasher.