After two years of the Los Angeles Lakers professing that Brandon Ingram was perhaps the only untouchable player on the roster, there is a chance they’d be ready to move on from him if it meant the team could get a star player in return.
Ingram was one of the Lakers’ three consecutive second overall picks in the NBA Draft, and when president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka took over and traded away the first of that group, D’Angelo Russell, some thought Ingram could eventually be on his way out. Instead, Johnson took a hard stance supporting Ingram, calling him “untouchable.”
Now, it seems as though the Lakers front office may be recanting on that, at least that seems to be the word from other NBA executives. If it means acquiring an All-Star caliber talent, Ingram would likely be traded, via Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus:
“[Ingram] will probably be traded at some point, whether it’s for a second or third star,” another NBA front-office executive said.
The first name that comes to mind when talking about a second marquee player coming to the Lakers via trade is New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis. Davis has been involved in trade rumors to the Lakers for a year or two now and only amplified them when he signed with LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul.
And while the Pelicans are not currently shopping Davis, if they miss the playoffs, as they’re on track to do so, it is commonly assumed throughout the league that Davis would want out. In Davis’s seven years with the Pelicans, they’ve made the playoffs twice, and gotten past the first round only once.
So should the Pelicans miss the playoffs and Davis requests a trade, the Lakers would be almost forced to give up at least two of the young core involving Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. And it is likely that the first one out the door would be Ingram.
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