The New Orleans Pelicans have made no secret that they wish to move on from forward Brandon Ingram. They have, thus far, found no one interested in the Ingram.

One team that might make a lot of sense for Ingram is the Pelicans’ summer blockbuster trade partner the Atlanta Hawks. Back in July, the Hawks traded DeJounte Murray to the Pelicans in essentially a cap-cutting deal. This created a big hole for the Hawks, who have now lost a lot of offensive firepower, and who owe first-round picks to the San Antonio Spurs.

With the Spurs getting unprotected first-round picks from the Hawks from when the Spurs traded Murray to the Hawks, the Hawks have to get better fast and Ingram helps them do just that.

Ingram has averaged over 20 points a game each season since joining the Pelicans 5 years ago, but with the current roster he doesn’t fit and he wants a big extension – something the small market and cheapskate Pelicans aren’t willing to do. So dumping Ingram for some assets makes sense.

Ingram is slated to make 33 million dollars next year. While not a substantial amount by modern NBA standards, it is a lot more than the Hawks can absorb without major renovations to their roster. The Hawks currently sit almost 30 million dollars above the NBA salary cap and are in danger of pressing up against the second tax apron. The Pelicans likewise are significantly over the cap. So in order to make a trade they would need a third team that has cap rooms. Currently the only teams with cap room are the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons.

The Pelicans do need help at center and the Hawks could spare Clint Capela as they have Onyeka Okongwu awaiting his time to shine. That would leave the Hawks just 11 million dollars shy of matching Ingram’s contract. The contract of Larry Nance Jr fits perfectly, except he was part of the Murray trade and cannot be traded back to New Orleans. This is where a third team like Detroit or Utah could be useful. Unfortunately, again, for the Hawks they have no draft capital so they would have to part ways with young talented players like Kobe Bufkin, Jalen Johnson, or Dyson Daniels.

The risk and loss of youth may be worth it for the Hawks as giving the Spurs a top 10 draft pick in the loaded 2025 draft could be catastrophic for the rest of the league. The Pelicans meanwhile would get a talented player in Capela and cap space next year and would likely be able to re-sign Capela next season to a smaller contract. The Pelicans would obviously want more pieces and a third team, or even fourth team, could help facilitate that.