While there has been speculation that the Golden State Warriors could target a trade for a star player before training camps open next month, a new report says if they do it won’t be for Brandon Ingram.
The Warriors are about a month away from the start of their new season and a new era for the franchise. For the first time in over a decade, the team’s Big Three trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will not be wearing Golden State blue and gold together. Thompson departed to Dallas this summer and the roster seems in a major shift.
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The organization was hoping the change in how the team looks next season would include the addition of a major impact talent. For weeks, the Warriors targeted a trade for Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen. However, not being interested in sending Jonathan Kuminga of Brandin Podziemski back in a deal became a hurdle Golden State could never overcome.
Instead, the only notable moves they made this summer was adding NBA veterans De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson, and Buddy Hield. There is still a belief around the league that the Warriors could aim for a major addition before camp opens. And that New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram could be their top target. But NBC Sports Bay Area NBA reporter Monte Poole claims that is out of the question.
Brandon Ingram contract: Five years, $158 million ($36.1 million left on deal)
Chances of Warriors making Brandon Ingram trade is reportedly ‘minuscule’
In a new column this week, Poole wrote on how the failed acquisition of Kelly Oubre, Jr. in 2020 has had a major effect on the current front office’s approach to major trades going forward. And why it has diminished any interest in a Brandon Ingram deal.
“In the eight years since Durant departed, the Oubre deal is the only individual move made under the theory that it alone would be enough to keep the Warriors among the contenders,” Poole wrote. “Every move since, including the addition of Chris Paul last summer, was made to supplement the roster rather than expand its core.
“Much of that approach is related to the Oubre experience. No longer are the Warriors willing to jeopardize their bottom line. Sacrifice a bundle of draft picks, or disrupt their roster for anyone who doesn’t rate a consensus. Brandon Ingram is among those who, according to sources, [who] does not meet that level. There’s enough pro/con that any chance of him coming to Golden State is minuscule.”
Ingram is in the final year of a five-year deal and is looking for an increase on the $158 million made in his previous pact.
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