tv24lakers wrote:I appreciate the the thoughtful evaluation.
As a Lakers fan I would prefer not to trade either player, but the win now sentiment with Lebron on the team leaves us with little options. That is to say Ball and Ingram health concerns are not one I share. The Lakers recognizing the playoffs were out of the realm of possibility withheld Ball longer than necessary. Ingram given the room to breathe is an elite talent. While I admire and love Lebron his presence on the floor downgraded the young stars. Take a look at the following article on Ingram’s stats w/ and w/o Lebron
https://fadeawayworld.net/2018/11/30/numbers-reveal-that-brandon-ingram-might-not-fit-well-with-lebron-james/
At the beginning of the year, if I were NO's, I probably would have preferred Tatum to Ingram but after the Allstar break, Ingram was averaging 27pts & looking the far better player, asset, until injury. Value wise, I think your offer is good for Memphis.
Value wise, Memphis would have a young, proven, potential go to scorer in Ingram, they would be in position to draft their future PG Ja at #2, they could draft a complimentary 3&D wing prospect like Hunter or Culver with the 4th pick & then flip ball to one of several teams in need of a PG to draft one of Hayes, Bruno, Abengele to potentially replace the loss of Jaren.
What makes me pump the brakes & probably why NO's is rumored to prefer Tatum despite how Ingram played after the break.
Injury risk - "Brandon Ingram was diagnosed with Deep Venous Thrombosis".
"A scary condition eerily reminiscent of the blood-clot problems that
ended Chris Bosh’s playing career",
While Ingram had successful surgery. Bosh did too..
"A stark reality known to many of those who have been treated for blood clots:
a recurrence can be common".
Ingram may remain heathy for his career & despite what your trade could potentially accomplish. I think it's risky because Memphis have a solid stable foundation with Jaren & JA in place without the concerns. Both on the same rookie scale timeline for the next 3-4yrs. Memphis have a nice window of opportunity to field a team around them, where Ingram & ball aren't too far from FA where they could also potentially walk in a smaller window of opportunity.
Not going to lie, hard deal to turn down but If I were Memphis, I would side with caution. Think Ingram is better suited contending now with Lebron than with Memphis. I think a better trade for both teams is Ball for Conley flipped for a draft pick or the 4th straight up for Conley, Lakers sign Noah as a FA who looked like his old self, last half season. Conley with Ingram & Kuzma should provide your team with better spacing than what you had last year, which I think was your teams biggest issue. Conley averaged 42% from behind the arc where Rondo & Ball were 2 of the poorer shooting PG's. Spacing issues is why LA struggled last year & Conley who's still producing like an Allstar helps rectifies that issue. Sometimes subtle changes, can make big impacts.