The Whiteboard: Is Brandon Ingram selling himself to the Warriors, Heat or others?

The season is young but the Pelicans are already off to a rocky 3-4 start. That doesn't sound terrible but all four of their losses have come by 15 points or more and their wins have come against the Pacers, Trail Blazers and Bulls — not exactly the toughest competition.

Prized offseason addition Dejounte Murray is out for an extended period with a broken hand, Trey Murphy III hasn't played yet because of a hamstring injury, and CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson have already missed five games, combined. In all of that mess, one of the few bright spots has been the performance of Brandon Ingram, who is averaging 24.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists on a career-high 60.6 true shooting percentage.

Of course, the benefit of Ingram's red-hot start is complicated.

Ingram is reportedly seeking a four-year, $200 million extension. The Pelicans haven't wanted to commit to that and shopped him for much of the offseason. He was mentioned in trade rumors involving a half-dozen teams but no one appeared to be all that interested in trading for him — not because he wouldn't be useful but because no one else really wanted to pay that extension either.

Does anyone want to pay Brandon Ingram's next extension?

The calculus for the Pelicans has, if anything, become even more clear. With all the same weaknesses and issues cropping up, recommitting to the most expendable part of this core seems even more unpalatable than it did a few months. They want to trade Ingram before he hits free agency and the lost him for nothing. The closer they get to the trade deadline, the more their leverage decreases.

But unfortunately for them, it's not clear that the circumstances for any other teams have really changed just because Ingram's jumper is looking extra smooth right now.

Ingram was floated as a possible replacement for Jimmy Butler if the Heat feel they need to eject from that situation. But Miami is 3-2, Butler is playing well and the East is looking more open than ever with the Knicks and Pacers floundering, Paolo Banchero out for weeks in Orlando and the Bucks and 76ers crumbling before our very eyes. Even if they circle back on Ingram, there is no pressure on them to move quickly and every reason for them to wait and see how things play out.

The Warriors were another possible trade destination for Ingram but the price tag was a big sticking point for them. They're also working through negotiations on an extension for Jonathan Kuminga and, while Ingram is better in a vacuum, it's not clear that he's that much of an improvement to justify the added cost, especially when they're already concerned about the cost of a much more modest extension for Kuminga. Their other young players are off to a good starts, Andrew Wiggins has been terrific and they're 5-1 right now despite missing Steph Curry for three games. They don't really need Ingram any more than they did during the summer and the terms of a potential deal are even less interesting to them now.

Some of the other Ingram trade destinations we heard about a lot this summer are in a similar position. The Magic could certainly use Ingram with Banchero out but they don't have a great spot for him when Banchero returns and they're probably much better off waiting things out that going all in trying to win the East for the next month. The Rockets are 3-3 but it's not clear that Ingram, even as hot as he is right now, makes them a clear playoff team.

It's only been seven games but Brandon Ingram is arguably scoring as well as he has at any other point in his career. But circumstances around the league haven't created any obvious openings for him and in the end he may just be giving himself more evidence to argue for a max extension that no one is going to be willing to pay.

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NBA news roundup:

• What is happening in Philadelphia? The 76ers got some good news — Paul George is planning on returning Monday against the Suns, after missing the start of the season because of a bone bruise in his knee suffered in preseason. He'll be returning to a team that is 1-4 and still missing Joel Embiid, who may now be looking at a suspension on top of his injury-related absence after shoving (reported as punching in some places) a reporter who had written a critical article about him. YIKES.

• Only slightly less chaotic are the Milwaukee Bucks, who, at 1-5, are the only team behind the 76ers in the Eastern Conference standings. Giannis Antetokounmpo sounds completely fed up, there is no chemistry with Damian Lillard and forward Bobby Portis took to social media to announce his house was burglarized while the Bucks were losing to the Cavs. DOUBLE YIKES.

• Steph Curry may return tonight against the Wizards after missing the last three games with a sprained ankle. The Warriors went 3-0 in his absence, beating the Pelicans (twice) and the Rockets.

The two best defenders in the NBA are both in their second season

NBA defense has a notoriously steep learning curve for young players, particularly for big men who hold the added responsibility of anchoring a system and backing up their four teammates. That's why it's pretty remarkable that Chet Holmgren (22 years old) and Victor Wembanyama (20 years old) are already the two best defenders in the league.

Obviously their young combinations of size and mobility give them an edge, but both are so far ahead of most of their peers in terms of awareness and execution. Holmgren is averaging 3.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. Wembanyama is averaging 3.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. Both are allowing opponents to shoot just over 40 percent when they're the closest defender on shots within six feet of the basket. Their team's defenses are ranked first and fourth, respectively, in defensive efficiency.

Evan Mobley is having a fantastic defensive season as well and has similar numbers, both individually and for his team. He's only a year older than Holmgren but he's also in his fourth season in the NBA and has played 205 career games, compared to 88 for Holmgren and 77 for Wemby. They're all young, but Chet and Wemby are arguably better and have even more upside.

There are plenty of other fantastic defenders in the NBA but it's not absurd to argue that these three could conceivably finish one, two, three in the Defensive Player of the Year voting for the next decade or more.