New Orleans Pelicans Receive: G Damian Lillard
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F Brandon Ingram, C Jaxson Hayes, G Kira Lewis Jr., NOP 2023 1st Round Pick*, LAL 2024 1st Round Pick (Rights to receive 2025 1st Round instead), NOP 2025 1st Round Pick
*New Orleans has the rights to swap its 2023 1st Round Pick with the Lakers.
If New Orleans is going to have any shot at potentially getting Damian Lillard, should he want out of Portland, then they would almost certainly have to offer up Brandon Ingram. The only way Portland trades Lillard is if they are getting an All-Star caliber player in return, preferably one that is young enough to build with, which is what they would be getting with Ingram.
Entering his 6th season in the NBA, Brandon Ingram has spent the last two years in New Orleans, joining the Pelicans after being traded to them as part of the Anthony Davis to L.A. deal. Since then, Ingram has continued to turn himself into an All-Star talent and has averaged 23.8 points per game each of the last two seasons.
Being able to score from anywhere on the court and then having the length and potential to be a factor defensively is what makes Brandon Ingram a special player. At soon-to-be 24-years-old, he is exactly the kind of talent Portland would want in exchange for Damian Lillard.
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Along with Ingram, the Pelicans would also be giving up two young talents in Jaxson Hayes and Kira Lewis Jr. Not to mention, they would have to give up a vast amount of their draft capital that they own from trading away both Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday over the years.
New Orleans definitely has the capability to put together a great trade package, and they could even substitute in Nickeil Alexander-Walker instead of Kira Lewis Jr. but nobody knows what the Portland Trail Blazers are thinking in regards to Damian Lillard’s future right now.
Entering the 2021-22 season, they plan on having him be their leader and there are no indications that they will be looking to trade him, so we have to assume that they are going to be looking to be “buyers” instead of “sellers.”
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Getting Damian Lillard to pair with Zion Williamson would surely be franchise-altering for the New Orleans Pelicans and immediately make them threats in the Western Conference. They may still need to add some more talent to their roster after potentially making this trade, but overall, Zion and Dame would create one of the toughest duos to stop in the league given their vastly different skill sets.
