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Draft Notes: Wembanyama, Coulibaly, Lewis, Clowney

June 18th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Although Victor Wembanyama may be the best NBA draft prospect in 20 years, the Spurs understand that his body type carries a certain amount of injury risk, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. McDonald notes that foot injuries have interrupted or even ended the careers of numerous big men, such as Bill Walton, Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis and Greg Oden. The latest example is Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, who suffered a foot fracture in an exhibition game last summer that forced him to miss his entire first season.

Wembanyama possesses an agility that has rarely been seen in someone so tall, and he has a team of advisors who have created a specialized training regimen to help him avoid stress injuries. Their prescription includes an all-natural diet with five meals each day, along with 10 hours of sleep.

“When you talk about a generational talent, it often times goes beyond your ability to make a shot or your ability to jump or put the ball on the floor,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. “As we’ve studied Victor, he’s very in depth with everything he does. It’s all those little details that go into becoming great.”

There’s more draft news to pass along:

  • Wembanyama is advocating for his French teammate, Bilal Coulibaly, to be selected in the lottery, relays NBA reporter Esfandiar Baraheni (Twitter link). “When I see the top 10 prospects announced at the draft, and for example the twins, Amen and Ausar Thompson, whose profile is similar to Bilal’s,” Wembanyama said, “I tell myself, very factually, that if these players are announced in the first five picks while playing in a league, Overtime Elite, whose level is light years away from what we experience here, then Bilal must be at least a top five.”
  • Pepperdine’s Maxwell Lewis, who worked out for the Trail Blazers on Thursday, views himself as a definite first-round pick, per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. “In my opinion, after just being in this environment, I feel like I’m a top-20 guy,” Lewis said. “We’ll see. Sky’s the limit.”
  • Alabama’s Noah Clowney is the 20th player to receive a Green Room invitation for draft night, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
  • Washington State guard Justin Powell has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Rockets and Nets, tweets Adam Zagoria of NJ.com.
  • The Hornets are hosting six players on Sunday for a pre-draft workout (Twitter link). They are Kam’Ron Blue of Coppin State, GG Jackson of South Carolina, Terry Roberts of Georgia, Vincent Valerio-Bodon of Sopron KC, Jalen Wilson of Kansas and Isaiah Wong of Miami.
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Hornets Notes: Miller, Henderson, Clifford, Kupchak, Jordan, Cole

June 18th, 2023 at 10:03am CST by Arthur Hill

Before making a final decision on the No. 2 pick in the draft, the Hornets have invited Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson to return to Charlotte on Monday for a second round of workouts and interviews, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Team owner Michael Jordan will be present at the workouts and will get his first in-person look at the two prospects, the authors add. Jordan has agreed to sell his majority stake in the team, but he remains in charge until the sale is finalized.

Miller is still considered the favorite to be selected by the Hornets, sources tell Wojnarowski and Givony, but Henderson made a strong impression during his session with the team last week. Their sources also say Miller didn’t exhibit the same intensity or conditioning level that Henderson did in their first workout, Givony tweets, so Monday’s gathering might be viewed as a second chance for him.

Wojnarowski and Givony also hear that both players are hoping to be selected by Charlotte because the city is much closer to their homes than Portland is, and they are excited about the new ownership group.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • The pending sale shouldn’t affect the jobs of either head coach Steve Clifford or general manager Mitch Kupchak, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. Clifford was hired last June and had to deal with numerous injuries to key players this season. He’s expected to get at least one more year on the job before a coaching change is considered. Kupchak signed a multi-year extension last year, and Boone states that this offseason will be important to his future, starting with making the right choice in the draft.
  • The high prices being fetched by sports franchises, along with Jordan’s legendary competitive nature, were likely factors in the sale, Boone adds. Jordan will reportedly sell the franchise for a $3 billion valuation and will get to retain a minority share of the team. Boone also suggests that Jordan doesn’t want his legacy to be affected by being associated with a losing franchise, as the Hornets have compiled a 423-600 record under his ownership.
  • Victoria Hernandez of USA Today looks at three potential ways that rap star J. Cole, who is part of the new ownership group, can use his connections in the music industry to benefit the team.
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Draft Notes: Ausar Thompson, Nnaji, Hornets, Hawks, Wizards

June 17th, 2023 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ausar Thompson pulled out of a scheduled workout with the Pacers on Friday, according to an Indianapolis Star story. No official reason was given, but it’s possible that the Overtime Elite star has received information that he’s likely to be selected before Indiana picks at No. 7. The article also suggests that Thompson may prefer to be drafted by a team picking later in the lottery.

The canceled workout doesn’t mean the Pacers wouldn’t consider Thompson if he’s still on the board, as he would provide a defensive boost to a team that ranked 29th in that category this season. The Star story notes that president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard is looking for a player with a “high ceiling” in the draft, and Thompson appears to fit that description.

Indiana holds five picks and has brought in more than 60 players during the pre-draft process. Most have been in group sessions, but projected lottery picks such as Thompson have been given individual workouts. The Pacers have already hosted Villanova’s Cam Whitmore, Houston’s Jarace Walker, Central Florida’s Taylor Hendricks and Kansas’ Gradey Dick.

There’s more on the draft:

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Southeast Notes: Kuzma, Beal, Oladipo, Snyder, Hornets

June 17th, 2023 at 5:01pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Bradley Beal trade rumors percolate, Ian Begley of SNY.tv says some people within the Wizards organization “voiced concerns” last season about the fit between Beal and forward Kyle Kuzma. While Begley acknowledges that the team has revamped its front office and may view things differently now, it appears increasingly unlikely that Beal and Kuzma will play together next season, with one on the trade block and one headed for free agency.

Meanwhile, David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic weighed in on the latest Beal trade rumors, taking a closer look at the Wizards’ talks with the Suns and Heat. According to The Athletic’s duo, Washington would have interest in acquiring Tyler Herro in a deal with Miami, but the Heat are instead offering Duncan Robinson (along with Kyle Lowry and multiple first-round picks).

Despite rumors indicating that Chris Paul – and not Deandre Ayton – would need to be included in the Suns’ offer for Beal in order to satisfy all parties, Aldridge and Robbins suggest that Ayton could still be the centerpiece of Phoenix’s offer.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • Heat guard Victor Oladipo is accusing his business manager of taking money from his bank accounts to buy a condo in Florida and a strip club in New York City, per Justin Rohrlich of The Daily Beast. Oladipo has filed suit in New York against James B. Henderson for stealing at least $1.3MM. Oladipo filed a separate lawsuit last year in Florida’s Orange County Circuit Court.
  • While some observers believed that Quin Snyder wouldn’t have joined the Hawks unless he was given ultimate control of the roster, he adamantly denies that’s the case, according to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic. “The only role (general manager) Landry (Fields) and (assistant GM) Kyle (Korver) and I talked about when I agreed to come to Atlanta is me coaching the team,” Snyder said. “That’s what I like and it’s also what I’m passionate about. Any speculation about me having a more significant role than providing input on personnel decisions is just not accurate. I have total confidence in Landry and his group to make those decisions. As I see it, my job is to maximize the potential of the personnel, whatever the personnel is. That’s where my focus lies. That speculation is erroneous.”
  • A number of draft experts expect the Hornets to select Brandon Miller at No. 2 in next Thursday’s draft, but Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer makes a case for Scoot Henderson to be the pick. The guard’s stock has been on the rise as of late, Boone writes, with rumors circulating that teams want to trade up for Henderson, not Miller.

Arthur Hill contributed to this post.

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Pelicans Rumors: Williamson, Ingram, Henderson

June 17th, 2023 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

While some reporters have expressed skepticism that the Pelicans are truly willing to make Zion Williamson available as they explore a move into the top three of the draft, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested during the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that Williamson appears far from untouchable.

“It’s surprising to me how out there it is in the league that the Pelicans are discussing Zion business,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “I want to be very careful about the word ‘offer’ because that word is a dangerous word. I’m not sure that the Pelicans have ‘offered’ Zion to anybody, but every day that passes for the last five or six days, I hear different discussions the Pelicans have had that imply they are going to make Zion available. Him or Brandon Ingram.

“… At the very least, it is very clear that the Pelicans’ thought on Zion Williamson’s future with the team is evolving. That’s putting it mildly.”

As Windhorst notes, it can be a challenge at this time of year to assess which rumors are genuine and which ones are smoke screens. With that in mind, he’s “very wary” about how to handle the chatter about the Pelicans’ interest in trading up for Scoot Henderson.

“It is extraordinarily out there about how much the Pelicans are interested in Scoot Henderson,” Windhorst said. “To the point where I’m like, ‘How is this out there so hard unless the Pelicans want it out there?’ So I’m nervous about even giving that attention, but it is there.”

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic was asked about the rumors involving the Pelicans, Henderson, and Williamson and said that he doesn’t believe New Orleans has offered Zion to Charlotte for the No. 2 pick.

However, Charania noted that the only realistic way for the Pels to move up that far in the draft would be to give up a star player — he just isn’t sure that Williamson is the star the Hornets would be after.

“What I have heard is I don’t know if the Hornets would want Zion Williamson,” Charania said. “I think who the Hornets want, from what I’m told, is Brandon Ingram.”

Williamson (23 in July) is younger than Ingram (26 in September) and has put up better numbers when healthy, including a career average of 25.8 points per game. However, availability is an asset that can’t be overlooked when evaluating the two forwards. And while Ingram has dealt with various injuries of his own, he has appeared in 223 games over the last four seasons compared to Williamson’s 114.

It’s also worth noting that there have been rumblings that the Pelicans haven’t been thrilled with Williamson’s “overall approach,” including his preparation off the court. On The Hoop Collective podcast, after ESPN’s Tim MacMahon alluded to the off-court “drama” surrounding Zion, Windhorst referred to a divide between the team and the former No. 1 overall pick.

“There’s no relationship between Zion and the organization, and minimal relationship between Zion and his teammates, from what I understand,” Windhorst said.

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Haynes’ Latest: Beal, Pacers, Lue, McMillan, Henderson, Hornets

June 16th, 2023 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Wizards have given Bradley Beal and his representatives – including agent Mark Bartelstein – permission to talk to rival teams about a potential trade, sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

While Beal has not requested a trade, per Haynes, the Wizards are reportedly mulling the idea of a roster reset that would involve moving the star guard. Since Beal has a no-trade clause, he’ll be very much a part of any trade negotiations, so it’s no surprise that his camp has been granted permission to talk directly to potential suitors.

[RELATED: Wizards, Bradley Beal Discussing Trade Scenarios]

The Heat and Bucks are among the teams expected to speak with Bartelstein, sources tell Haynes. The Heat and Beal have been linked in the past and appear to have mutual interest, but the 29-year-old isn’t attempting to force his way to Miami or to any other specific team, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.

As for Milwaukee, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports confirms there have been rumblings about the Bucks having interest in Beal, as others have reported. But a Bucks trade for Beal would probably have to include Khris Middleton, according to Fischer, who says all indications are that Milwaukee intends to bring back Middleton and free agent center Brook Lopez.

Here’s more from Haynes’ latest rumor round-up:

  • The Pacers have made the No. 7 pick available and are in the market for a starting-caliber wing, per Haynes, echoing a report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link via Evan Sidery of Forbes). According to Fischer, Indiana previously explored trade scenarios for Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter (for Chris Duarte and draft capital) and Raptors forward OG Anunoby. The Pacers are also expected to be among the suitors for Celtics restricted free agent forward Grant Williams, Fischer adds.
  • The Clippers are considered unlikely to reach an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Tyronn Lue this offseason, Haynes reports. Lue has one more guaranteed year on his contract, with a team option for 2024/25. Haynes adds that the Suns never officially made contact with the Clippers about their interest in Lue this spring, since L.A. would have wanted draft assets to release Lue from his contract, and Phoenix used most of its draft picks at the trade deadline to acquire Kevin Durant.
  • Nate McMillan turned down an offer to join the Mavericks‘ coaching staff and intends to take a year off from coaching to spend time with his family, sources tell Haynes.
  • Scoot Henderson will return to North Carolina on Monday to meet with Hornets owner Michael Jordan, writes Haynes. Fischer previously reported that Charlotte wanted to bring both Henderson and Brandon Miller back early next week to meet with Jordan. It’s unclear whether or not Miller will also return to Charlotte.
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Michael Jordan Agrees To Sell Majority Share Of Hornets

June 16th, 2023 at 9:45am CST by Luke Adams

9:45am: The Hornets have put out a press release confirming that Jordan has reached an agreement to sell the majority share of the franchise to a group led by Plotkin and Schnall. According to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), the team is being valued at approximately $3 billion in the sale.

In addition to the names listed below, the new ownership group will include tech investor Ian Loring and several North Carolina natives, including recording artists J. Cole and Eric Church, per the Hornets.

The team added that Schnall is in the process of selling his minority stake in the Hawks, which will likely be completed within the next few weeks.

9:04am: Hornets owner Michael Jordan is selling his majority share of the franchise, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that Jordan is in the process of finalizing a deal with a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.

Plotkin is a current minority stakeholder in the Hornets, while Schnall held a minority share of the Hawks. They’ll become the new team governors in Charlotte once the sale is completed and approved by the NBA, says Wojnarowski, adding that an agreement is expected to be reached soon.

Jordan assumed majority control of the Hornets back in 2010, completing a deal that was based on a reported valuation of $275MM. While it’s not clear yet what he’ll sell for, Forbes estimated last October that the franchise was worth $1.7 billion, and those projections often undershoot actual sale prices.

Charlotte’s NBA franchise, which reentered the NBA as the expansion Bobcats in 2004 before being rebranded as the Hornets in 2014, made the playoffs just three times during Jordan’s tenure as majority owner and didn’t win a postseason series.

According to Wojnarowski, Jordan will remain involved with the Hornets, at least in the short term. He’ll continue to oversee basketball operations during the draft and the start in free agency in the coming weeks. Even after completing the sale, the six-time NBA champion is expected to retain a minority stake in the team, sources tell ESPN.

Word broke three months ago that Jordan was mulling the possibility of giving up control of the Hornets to a group led by Plotkin and Schnall. A story last month indicated that he may have been waiting until after the draft lottery to make a decision, since landing the No. 1 overall pick and the right to draft Victor Wembanyama would’ve increased the value of the franchise.

Charlotte didn’t win the draft lottery, but did come away with the next-best thing — the team controls the No. 2 pick, which could be used to draft a potential star like Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller or as the centerpiece in a trade for an established veteran star. For now, there doesn’t appear to be traction on a trade involving the No. 2 pick, though that could change by the time the Hornets are on the clock next Thursday.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported yesterday that Charlotte is trying to bring Henderson and Miller back to town this coming Monday to meet with Jordan, adding that all signs point toward the club choosing between those two players if it keeps its lottery pick. The Hornets have kept the reps for Henderson and Miller apprised on the ownership situation, tweets Fischer.

Besides Plotkin and Schnall, the Hornets’ new ownership team will include Hornets minority owner Daniel Sundheim, who is part of the purchasing group, says Wojnarowski.

A source tells Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link) that private equity form Dyal HomeCourt Partners is also expected to be involved in the group. Dyal also has stakes in the Hawks and Kings and had one in the Suns before cashing out in February when Mat Ishbia bought the franchise, says Vorkunov.

It remains to be seen how the Hornets’ ownership change might affect the team on and off the court going forward — head coach Steve Clifford and president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak are among those in leadership roles whose futures could be impacted. For what it’s worth, Fischer notes (via Twitter) that Schnall was believed to be involved in basketball operations during his time as a Hawks minority owner.

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Latest Rumors On Hornets’, Blazers’ Lottery Picks

June 16th, 2023 at 7:58am CST by Luke Adams

Despite New Orleans’ interest in Scoot Henderson, the odds of the Hornets and Pelicans reaching an agreement involving the No. 2 pick appear slim.

While the Pelicans don’t necessarily view any player as “untouchable” as they explore moving up in the draft, they’ve shown little interest in parting with forward Brandon Ingram, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. According to Fischer, the team has received plenty of trade inquiries about Trey Murphy this year, but Murphy isn’t viewed as the type of player who could be the centerpiece of a deal that moves New Orleans up from No. 14 to No. 2.

That would leave Zion Williamson as the most obvious trade chip the Pelicans could use if they’re serious about moving into the top three. However, the organization still believes in Williamson’s upside and “fondly remembers” starting the season atop the Western Conference this past season when Zion was healthy, Fischer writes, noting that a top-three pick would be “merely the starting point” to meet Williamson’s valuation of the star forward. Charlotte is unlikely to share that valuation.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony expressed a similar sentiment during an appearance on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post podcast, as RealGM relays.

“I’ve been told New Orleans is not trading Zion,” Givony said. “And no interest in trading Brandon Ingram. I would be very surprised if anything ended up happening there at two or three. They were the No. 1 team in the West last year when Zion went down with the injury. If he’s healthy, which he rarely is, but when he’s healthy, he is easily one of the best players in the NBA. So I don’t see it happening. That was pretty much shut down to me as a possibility of Zion to Charlotte.”

Asked by Lowe if the possibility of a Pelicans/Trail Blazers trade involving the No. 3 pick is more viable, Givony essentially dismissed that idea too.

“They haven’t even spoken with Portland,” Givony said. “I think New Orleans has made some calls, just to see what it would take to get to one, get to two, but I don’t think it went past that.”

While the Pelicans have been the team most frequently mentioned this week as a candidate to move into the top three, they’re not the only ones who have looked into that possibility. Fischer says the Raptors and Rockets have conveyed interest in moving up in the lottery, while Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer cites sources who say that Toronto and the Wizards have explored deals to move into the top three.

Presumably, any trade into the top three for the Raptors or Wizards would involve a star player like Pascal Siakam or Bradley Beal, though it’s unclear whether those All-Stars on their own would be enough for a team like Charlotte or Portland to seriously consider a move down. Siakam will be on an expiring deal in 2023/24, while Beal is owed nearly $208MM over the next four years, so neither player has a particularly favorable contract. As we wrote on Thursday, Fischer is skeptical that Houston has the veteran talent necessary to move into the top three.

Givony suggested on The Lowe Post that the Trail Blazers have yet to receive a compelling offer for the No. 3 pick.

“Contrary to what people think, if the draft were tonight, they’re making that pick,” Givony said, per RealGM. “Unless something crazy comes up. Some type of trade that you just can’t say ‘no’ to. At this stage, they haven’t had anywhere near that level of conversation to get fair value for that pick. You very rarely have a chance to get that type of talent, like a Brandon Miller or a Scoot Henderson, in Portland. So they’re not just going to pass up on that unless something absolutely incredible comes out of thin air, which doesn’t appear the case right now.”

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Hornets’ Mark Williams Undergoes Thumb Surgery

June 14th, 2023 at 6:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mark Williams underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, the Hornets announced in a press release. The rookie center is expected to make a full recovery, according to the team, although no specific timetable was given.

The 15th pick in last year’s draft, Williams appeared in 43 games and made 17 starts this season. He finished second among rookies with 1.0 blocks per game, third in field goal percentage at 63.7%, fourth in rebounds at 7.1 per night and fifth with 11 double-doubles. He also averaged 9.0 PPG in 19.3 minutes per game.

Williams missed some time with a sprained thumb in March, but he was able to return before the end of the season and played in six of the team’s final eight games.

The surgery will prevent Williams from taking part in Summer League, according to Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer. The Hornets will play in both Sacramento and Las Vegas next month, and Williams had been expected to participate.

Boone adds that Williams’ focus will now turn to rehab and recovery before he resumes full workouts later in the offseason.

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Pelicans Rumors: Henderson, Draft, Williamson, Ingram

June 14th, 2023 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

Since Shams Charania reported on Monday that the Pelicans have explored the possibility of trying to acquire a top-three pick in the draft in order to snag G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, multiple NBA journalists – including Brian Windhorst of ESPN (YouTube link) and Substack writer Marc Stein – have confirmed New Orleans’ interest in Henderson.

The Pelicans like the idea of adding a more “traditional play-maker” to their roster after having CJ McCollum serve as the de facto point guard last season, according to Stein, who adds that New Orleans is “undeniably drawn” to Henderson.

Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Wednesday, Windhorst said the Pelicans’ interest in moving up from No. 14 in the draft has rival teams speculating about whether former No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson will hit the trade block.

“The Pelicans have had some cursory discussions (about moving up), from what I’ve been told. There haven’t been any offers made necessarily yet,” Windhorst said. “But it makes you really not take too far of a leap to wonder – and the league is certainly wondering – if the Pelicans are going to make, for the first time truly, Zion Williamson available ahead of next week’s draft. To get up to that level in the top five, you’d have to consider a player of this caliber.

“… I don’t know if anything’s going to truly develop there, but I think it’s fair to say based on my conversations, there’s an eye being kept toward whether the Pelicans would make Zion Williamson available.”

Stein has heard similar speculation and spoke to one “well-placed” source who believes that the Pelicans would be prepared to move Williamson if it meant they could land Henderson.

According to Stein, that source cited a “rising level of exasperation” in New Orleans about Zion’s injury history and his overall approach. The former Duke star has appeared in just 114 games in his first four NBA seasons due to a variety of health issues.

Of course, even if the Pelicans are willing to trade Williamson, it’s not clear whether the Hornets would be willing to give up the No. 2 overall pick in a deal for him, given not just his injury issues but his maximum-salary contract, which will go into effect this year.

A second source who spoke to Stein predicted that Charlotte would turn down an offer centered around the No. 2 pick and Williamson, though Stein notes that Hornets governor Michael Jordan may like the idea of acquiring a Jordan Brand star.

It’s possible the Trail Blazers would have interest in Williamson, Stein writes, but if the Blazers decide to trade the No. 3 pick, they’d likely prefer to acquire a star with a better track record of availability. It’s also not a lock that Henderson would be available for New Orleans if the team traded up to No. 3, since Charlotte could take him instead of Alabama’s Brandon Miller.

As we relayed earlier today, Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com wrote within his latest mock draft that the top of the draft could get a shake-up if the Pelicans include Brandon Ingram in an offer for the No. 2 pick, but Givony cautioned that it’s too early to say whether New Orleans would be willing to do so. For what it’s worth, Stein says his read right now is that the Pels would be less inclined to move Ingram than Williamson.

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