Hornets prefer Brandon Ingram over Zion Williamson in exchange for No. 2 pick

The Pelicans might very well decide in these final days leading up to the draft that they can’t bear the thought of trading Zion Williamson just four years into his career. Maybe they will deem the price to truly chase the No. 2 overall pick from Charlotte as just too expensive to pursue no matter how much they love Scoot Henderson … especially if the Hornets, as some believe, would insist on Brandon Ingram as the centerpiece of a trade package in return. As covered here in our Wednesday report, it’s believed that the Hornets are more reluctant to trade Ingram than Williamson at this point. Whatever route New Orleans goes, though, there’s no getting around another key element of Wednesday’s full story below: That rising level of exasperation within the organization regarding Williamson’s ongoing availability issues and overall approach after he appeared in just 114 of a possible 308 regular-season games through his first four seasons. -via marcstein.substack.com / June 17, 2023

Shams Charania: To my knowledge, the Pelicans haven’t called the Charlotte Hornets and said, ‘Hey, do you wanna do Zion Williamson for the No. 2 pick?’ But what I think has been relayed to No. 2, which, the Pelicans want Scoot Henderson. They want to move up in this draft, they have the No. 14 pick. … Henderson is going to be a potential franchise guard, a guy we’re going to be talking about for years to come… There is a lot of belief around the NBA and around the Pelicans that Henderson can be a franchise point guard. … The Pelicans want to go get him. Realistically, the only way you’re going to get a guy like that is you’re gonna have to give up a guy like Zion Williamson. … What I have heard is I don’t know if the Hornets would want Zion, I think who the Hornets want is Brandon Ingram. -via Twitter / June 16, 2023

Brian Windhorst: It’s surprising to me how out there it is in the league that the Pelicans are discussing Zion business. I want to be very careful about the word ‘offer’ because that word is a dangerous word. I’m not sure the Pelicans have ‘offered’ Zion to anybody, but every day that passes over the past five or six days, I hear different discussions the Pelicans have had that implies they are going to make Zion available. Him or Brandon Ingram. I wouldn’t rule out anything I guess, but the events of the last six months with Zion are what they are -via ESPN / June 16, 2023

J. Dubb: Bill Simmons saying that a reliable source informed him Zion will no longer be on the Pelicans come Thursday. ?? -via Twitter / June 19, 2023

It was also relayed to me, via league sources, that the Pelicans did quietly hold some exploratory trade talks a year ago involving Zion Williamson during the 2022 offseason before agreeing to sign him to a five-year max rookie scale contract extension worth nearly $195 million. -via marcstein.substack.com / June 17, 2023