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The Atlanta Hawks reportedly may turn to the New Orleans Pelicans to find a replacement for Jalen Johnson after the forward suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (1:20 mark) reported on Friday that there has been “a little bit of a warmup” regarding trade talks involving Brandon Ingram.
“Specifically, keep an eye on the Atlanta Hawks,” he said. “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. Keep an eye on that.”
This has been a season to forget for the Pelicans, who entered with expectations of a playoff run but instead sit in 14th place in the Western Conference standings at 12-36 thanks in large part to injuries.
Ingram is scheduled for free agency after the season and could leave anyway, so it would make sense that New Orleans would be interested in trading him.
It might not be a long-term rebuild with Zion Williamson as the franchise player, so any assets the front office could get in an Ingram deal could help the Pelicans return to competitive form as soon as next season.
And Atlanta is battling for position in the Eastern Conference standings. It is 22-26 and in ninth place, which would put it in the play-in tournament if it cannot make up the two-game deficit on the sixth-seeded Miami Heat.
Losing Johnson will make that playoff battle all the more difficult, although Ingram would be a solid replacement.
The biggest question mark with the Duke product is health, as he has played just 18 games this season and last appeared in a contest on Dec. 7 thanks to an ankle injury.
Ingram has been effective when he does play and is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists a night while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from deep. Pairing him with Trae Young could make the Hawks dangerous in a play-in or playoff situation, although the front office will have to decide how much it is willing to give up given the team’s position in the standings.
As for the Pelicans, getting something back in return before he potentially leaves in free agency would make sense.
