Oklahoma City doesn’t need more star power on its roster, but the idea of ​​bringing in an elite scorer to be the team’s starting player or sixth man doesn’t sound like the worst idea. The Thunder are expected to receive New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram in a recent mock trade.

In return, the Thunder would trade away a trio of young players, including guards Aaron Wiggins and Lu Dort and forward Ousmane Dieng. The deal would also send a top-five protected 2027 first-round pick to New Orleans.

Ingram spent the last six seasons with the Pelicans and, despite his team’s success, has continued to prove that he is one of the NBA’s most talented scorers. This year he is averaging 22.2 points and 5.6 rebounds on 46.5% shooting. Throughout his nine-year professional career, Ingram has shown time and time again that he can shoot the ball at a high level and be an efficient player.

Trade rumors have been swirling around Ingram for quite some time. Despite acquiring talent to surround Ingram in New Orleans, the Pelicans have struggled to win games. The Pelicans are 5-21 this season, which is their worst record in the Western Conference. Although Ingram is having another solid season, his team can’t find a way to win games.

Ingram’s status in New Orleans has appeared to be in question for some time, but teams’ lack of success could be an indicator that Ingram is tradeable at this year’s deadline. Ingram is in the final year of his contract and earned $36 million in his final contract season.

That makes his trade availability even more interesting for OKC. If they traded for him, he would have the opportunity to leave the team in free agency after a short period of time. The Thunder are not actively looking for talent, and while Ingram is a high-level all-around scorer, finding a role for him could be a challenge.

In his career, Ingram has only played less than 30 minutes per game in a season once, in his rookie year. That streak would certainly be jeopardized if he were to move to the Thunder, which could deter Ingram from a potential move to Oklahoma City. The opposite scenario would be Ingram’s potential desire to play for a contending team. In his six years in New Orleans, he only made the playoffs twice, both times he was eliminated in the first round.

There is a great group of players the Thunder could add to increase their chances of an NBA title. There’s also the argument that their success earlier in the season means they don’t need to make any moves at the deadline. OKC is by no means a perfect team, but right now it has a formula for winning basketball games. A midseason move wouldn’t necessarily impact that, but there’s a chance it could. The moves, or lack thereof, that Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City front office will make around the deadline are worth keeping an eye on as the deadline approaches.

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