Tag: Brandon Ingram

Duke basketball freshman Isaiah Evans names James Harden, Jalen Brunson as inspirations

During last week’s episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, Duke’s Isaiah Evans named James Harden and Jalen Brunson as players he looks up to.

The best way to become a great basketball player is to watch what great basketball players do, and that fact is not lost on new Duke freshman [autotag]Isaiah Evans[/autotag].

During last week’s episode of The Brotherhood Podcast, the incoming five-star named James Harden and Jalen Brunson as two NBA players he enjoys watching.

Evans said he felt drawn to Harden since he was young, and he would have been 12 years old when Harden was named the 2017-18 NBA MVP with the Houston Rockets. He averaged 30.4 points per game that season, his first of three consecutive scoring titles.

“He imposed his will on the defense,” Evans said. “He was just going out there and just showing you, you really just couldn’t do nothing with him. I just loved that.”

With Harden now approaching his 35th birthday, Evans said Brunson emerged as a younger player he loves studying.

“His footwork and his pivots and his pump fakes,” Evans said. “I’m just in love with it.”

Thanks to his Duke commitment and slender build, Evans draws many visual comparisons to former Blue Devil [autotag]Brandon Ingram[/autotag]. The five-star freshman also said he likes watching Ingram and [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] as he tries to take what he can from as many stars as possible.

Duke basketball offers talented 2025 forward Nikolas Khamenia

Duke basketball offered 2025 power forward Nikolas Khamenia as Jon Scheyer keeps an eye on the recruiting trail.

Duke’s recruiting pursuits in 2025 may be smaller class-wise than the 2024 class.

With the ever-growing dependency on the transfer portal for impact players year-to-year, it’s reasonable to believe that high school recruiting classes could potentially get smaller as teams try to find the right blend of high school talent and transfer portal adds to retool their rosters year to year. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer already said on The Brotherhood Podcast that an ideal class for him would include three or four signees.

With that in mind, it’s also important to note that Duke’s brand will allow them to be players amongst the best high schoolers in the country. Duke will always be an attractive destination, especially at the small forward and power forward positions, where Duke has become a factory of sorts over the last decade.

It’s hard to imagine any school competing with Duke in the forwards department as names like Jabari Parker, [autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag], [autotag]Paolo Banchero[/autotag], RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Marvin Bagley, Justise Winslow, Cam Reddish have all gone on to become first-round lottery picks after spending their time at Duke.

The Blue Devils could see the same potential in 2025 forward Nikolas Khamenia, a 6-foot-8 prospect they offered recently who plays at Harvard Westlake in California.

Khamenia, a modern power forward, can guard multiple positions. He is athletic enough not to be a liability and can stretch the floor when necessary.

In short, he’s like the Duke forwards of the past decade in many areas. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Duke would offer him. He’s also got plenty of room for physical and skill development, making him a multi-year guy who could help alleviate roster turnover concerns.

Khamenia is ranked 28th in the nation by 247Sports, and the site considers him the third-best player in California.

Alongside Duke, he has offers from UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga, Creighton, Kansas, and UNC.

There’s no actual timetable yet for a decision, but Duke’s offer should resonate with his recruitment.

Report: Pelicans contacted Sixers about possible Brandon Ingram trade

The New Orleans Pelicans have reportedly contacted the Philadelphia 76ers about a possible Brandon Ingram trade.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be one of the more active teams throughout the summer as they look to acquire a max player to land next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. They have a ton of cap space and President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey will be looking tirelessly to add talent.

An option for the Sixers could be New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram. The Pelicans could be moving in a different direction as they look to build with Zion Williamson and Ingram could be on the move.

Per Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Pelicans have reached out to the Sixers about a possible Ingram trade:

League sources said New Orleans also contacted the Philadelphia 76ers concerning a possible Ingram trade.

Ingram averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 35.5% from deep in the 2023-24 season for New Orleans. He was named an All-Star in 2020 and is one of the better isolation scorers in the league. He has the skills to make it all work and his 3-point shooting will be important next to Embiid and Maxey.

One has to believe that Morey will at least consider bringing Ingram to Philadelphia. The Sixers need a wing player who can produce on both ends of the floor and Ingram fits that mold.

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Report: Rockets have no interest in Alperen Sengun, Brandon Ingram trade with Pelicans

The Rockets have no interest in a rumored trade involving Alperen Sengun and New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, The Athletic’s Kelly Iko reports.

With only one year left on his current contract, former All-Star forward Brandon Ingram would seem to be a logical trade candidate for the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason.

But it doesn’t appear the Houston Rockets are a suitor, and especially not if the deal requires promising young center Alperen Sengun.

Per Kelly Iko of The Athletic:

Rumors have swirled about the Pelicans dangling Ingram in trade talks and in one iteration, a hypothetical Ingram-for-Alperen Şengün swap was mentioned. But the Rockets have no interest, team sources said.

Sengun will be considerably more expensive once his second career contract kicks in with the 2025-26 NBA season. Thus, at a surface level, the financial concerns with Ingram could also apply to Sengun.

But at 21 years old, Sengun is five years younger than Ingram and could have more upside. He’s also a center and not a wing, where the Rockets are already well stocked with talented young players such as Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Tari Eason.

With a win-now emphasis after a much-improved 41-41 campaign, the Rockets are believed to be interested in exploring marquee trades. Iko previously reported that Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, should he want to leave the Cavaliers, would be of interest to Houston.

But Ingram isn’t quite to that All-NBA level of a player such as Mitchell. Thus, the incentive for the Rockets to dip into their young core to incentivize a trade appears to be substantially reduced.

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SB Nation assigns Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski to ‘perfect’ fits in new mock draft

See which squads took Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski in the new SB Nation mock draft, detailing the ‘perfect’ prospects for each team, here.

SB Nation released a new mock draft on Monday with writer Ricky O’Donnell taking a slightly different approach. Instead of detailing which picks he thinks each NBA team will make, O’Donnell said he went for which player he would take in each position.

The Duke basketball team has two players in the draft pool this year, and both went in the top 21 selections of O’Donnell’s ideal draft.

[autotag]Jared McCain[/autotag] went 18th overall to the Orlando Magic. The No. 5 seed in last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs is led by another former Duke basketball player in [autotag]Paolo Banchero[/autotag], and McCain’s 41% 3-point shooting clip can help space the floor.

“While he’s not a natural shot creator off the dribble, he could play well off Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and provide them with floor spacing,” O’Donnell wrote.

[autotag]Kyle Filipowski[/autotag] went three picks later to the New Orleans Pelicans led by former Duke basketball players [autotag]Brandon Ingram[/autotag] and [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag].

O’Donnell even said Filipowski might go higher than 21st due to his combination of height (7 feet tall) and ball-handling (2.8 assists per game last season).

“Duke’s sophomore center is one of the most skilled big men in the class: a great decision-maker as a passer, a capable three-point shooter, and a tough interior scorer,” the SB Nation writer said.

The NBA draft kicks off on Wednesday, June 26.

Could we see Nikola Vucevic traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, or Brandom Ingram to the Chicago Bulls?

A pair of especially intriguing trade ideas have been making the rounds of late.

Could we see Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, or Brandon Ingram to the Chicago Bulls? With the NBA’s 2024 offseason officially here in full force, the near-constant flow of trade ideas for teams now out of (and sometimes in) the playoffs are ubiquitous.

And for good reason, as your favorite league analysts do their best to prognosticate what moves their favorite teams could be making based on the intel making the rounds behind the scenes. In the case of the Bulls, a pair of especially intriguing trade ideas have been making the rounds of late.

And while there may not yet be fire to this smoke, in some corners there is the belief that there ought to be.

The hosts of the “Locked On Bulls” podcast, Haize and Pat the Designer, took a look at each proposal on a recent show. Check their response out for yourself in the clip embedded above.

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Brandon Ingram floated as ‘ambitious trade target’ for Bulls

As the Chicago Bulls look to shake things up this summer, they will have a bunch of different options to choose from in terms of roster-building. If they want to remain competitive, adding more win-now talent would be the play. Grant Hughes of …

As the Chicago Bulls look to shake things up this summer, they will have a bunch of different options to choose from in terms of roster-building. If they want to remain competitive, adding more win-now talent would be the play. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report floated Brandon Ingram as a potential “ambitious trade target” for Chicago this offseason.

“Brandon Ingram has one year left on his deal before 2025 free agency, which is actually more of a feature than a bug from the Bulls’ perspective,” Hughes wrote. “Chicago could build a trade by sending LaVine and his remaining three years to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for a one-year test run with Ingram.

“That’d allow a season to evaluate his fit with fellow three-point-attempt-eschewer DeMar DeRozan (who seems destined to return in free agency) and Coby White. If things click, and if Ingram regains his All-Star form, Chicago can retain him on a new deal. But if things don’t work out, the Bulls will have at least gotten out from under LaVine’s contract without sliding too far down the standings in 2024-25.”

Adding Ingram’s scoring punch as a way to replace DeMar DeRozan would be nice, especially considering Ingram is only 26 years old.

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Report: Trade for Brandon Ingram could be fallback plan for the Sixers

According to a new report, the Sixers could explore a deal for Brandon Ingram this summer.

Following a first-round exit in the 2024 playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers enter a pivotal offseason with the ability to create a huge amount of salary cap space and reshape the roster around Joel Embiid.

Paul George has been a popular option among NBA media to potentially land in Philadelphia, but according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, New Orleans star Brandon Ingram is regarded as the primary fallback plan in Philly.

Ingram, a versatile 6-foot-8 forward, is a one-time All-Star who just completed his eighth NBA season. In 64 games for the Pelicans, Ingram averaged 20.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while shooting 35% from beyond the arc.

Via The Ringer:

“Ingram would have to be acquired in a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans since he’s under contract for $36 million with a 15 percent trade kicker through the 2024-25 season. But the Sixers could absorb him without sacrificing any salary, a major benefit to the Pelicans, who could then operate with cap space and receive draft picks from the Sixers.”

Spurs Trade Ideas: Should San Antonio consider a Brandon Ingram trade?

Could the San Antonio Spurs trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram this offseason?

The San Antonio Spurs have a ton of trade assets to work with this summer as they look to improve the roster around star Frenchman Victor Wembanyama. He’s coming off a great rookie season in which he became the first-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year winner and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. One guy they could potentially trade for is New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram.

The Pelicans could potentially look to move on from Ingram this summer, and he would give the Spurs’ offense a great punch with his shot creation. But would they be willing to give up significant assets to get him?

Perhaps a package of Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, and a first-round pick or two could be enough to entice the Pelicans.

San Antonio would get another quality shot creator to play next to Devin Vassell, while the Pelicans would get added depth, a center to replace Jonas Valanciuns, should they move on from him, and draft capital.

Conclusion: This package isn’t bad for either team, but both sides could probably do better.

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The best photos of former Duke basketball players in the 2024 NBA Playoffs

With four Duke players in the NBA’s conference finals, check out the best photos of the best Duke players in the league’s postseason.

The college basketball postseason ended last month, but there are more trophies to chase for the Duke program.

Four former Blue Devils advanced to the NBA’s Conference Finals, three of them playing consistent minutes. Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively of the Dallas Mavericks, and Minnesota’s Wendell Moore Jr. each remain alive in the chase for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Tatum averaged a double-double in both of Boston’s five-game wins so far, with two 30-point games and a triple-double already in his postseason sample size. Irving had a 40-point game and two 30-point games against the Clippers in the opening round, and Lively put together two straight double-doubles and earned national praise to close out the second round.

They aren’t the only notable Duke alums from the postseason, however. Orlando’s Paolo Banchero excelled for the Magic as he helped force a Game 7 with Cleveland, setting a franchise record along the way.

Here are the best photos of the best Duke players in the NBA postseason.