With the 2025 NBA trade deadline officially less than a week away, the rumour mill has begun to kick into high gear as teams around the league prepare for the February 6th cutoff.
While Miami has deservedly dominated headlines of late with their ongoing Jimmy Butler saga, there are plenty of other intriguing names being buoyed about in potential deals of late. One such player is New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram.
Currently averaging 22.2pts/5.6reb/5.2ast per game while shooting 46.5% from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc, the 6’8″ forward would be a solid addition to any team with playoff aspirations down the stretch.
What complicates things is that Ingram remains sidelined with an ankle injury which has kept him out of the lineup since December 7th. Add in the fact that Pelicans head coach Willie Green told reporters last week that Ingram hasn’t been cleared for contact drills yet, and remains without a firm timetable to return, and one can see why teams might be hesitant to shell out picks or prospects for the 27 year old.
That being said, the Atlanta Hawks suddenly find themselves at a crossroads. Currently sporting a 22-26 record, the Hawks occupy the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference. A position they’ve free-fallen into after dropping 7 straight contests.
The club has already floated out the notion that Clint Cappella, Cody Zeller, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Larry Nance Jr. could be available if the right deal were to come along. And with news that forward Jalen Johnson will likely miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum, they find themselves with a need along the wing for the final few months of the season.
Replacing Johnson’s 18.9pts/10reb/5ast/1.6st/1blk per game contributions won’t be easy, but the parallels between he and Ingram are obvious. Both are former 1st round picks out of Duke, they’re both 6’8″, play the same position, and have fairly similar playing-styles, making an Ingram to Atlanta deal a very real possibility.
The club previously kicked the tires on Ingram last summer, but nothing ultimately materialized. With Ingram now languishing on the trade block as an expiring contract, could Atlanta look to “buy-low” on the injured star?
NBA insider Brian Windhorst seems to think so, telling listeners this week “Brandon Ingram is a guy who has been on the trade block for months. But, over these last few days, I am seeing a little bit of a warm up out there in talks involving these two players (Ingram and Bulls guard Zach LaVine), specifically keep an eye on the Atlanta Hawks. They just lost their star wing Jalen Johnson for the season, they may start to get interested in making a move, especially for Brandon Ingram so keep an eye on that.”
Atlanta has little incentive to bottom out in the East after losing Johnson and hitting a 7 game skid. They no longer control their own picks in 2025, 2026, or 2027 thanks to previous trades, so draft order is of no importance to them.
While there remain a few standout franchises in the Eastern Conference with the likes of Cleveland, Boston and New York topping out the standings, no one from the 6th position onwards currently has a winning record, meaning there are still plenty of playoff spots up for grabs over the next few months.
Ingram has been vocal about wanting a large offseason extension, so the deal may ultimately come down to whether or not Atlanta’s front office views him as a rental player or a long term piece of their future. But with only a few days left until deadline day, expect talks between Atlanta and the Pelicans to intensify to see if there’s the framework of a deal that can be hashed out.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.