According to the latest NBA trade rumors, the New Orleans Pelicans could be stuck with veteran forward Brandon Ingram until his five-year, $158.25 million contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.
NBA Trade Rumors: New Orleans Pelicans Are Currently In The Luxury Tax, Brandon Ingram Is Owed $36 Million This Season
Per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst, the Pelicans have struggled to find a team that’s willing to take on Ingram’s current salary and meet his future contract demands of a four-year, $200 million extension.
“Finding a place where New Orleans can send Ingram’s $36 million salary and get value while also reducing salary — the Pelicans are currently in the luxury tax for the first time ever and not likely to stay there — is hard enough. But finding a deal with a team Ingram will be comfortable signing a new contract with has also stalled talks, per sources,” wrote Bontemps and Windhorst.
New Orleans isn’t considering taking a “gap” year to get its roster healthy and positioned for a high pick. This is essentially code talk for tanking, which is illegal in the NBA.
Last year, the Memphis Grizzlies lost stars Ja Morant and Desmond Bane to season-ending injuries, and the Golden State Warriors were without sharpshooters Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in 2019-20.
Both the Grizzlies (13-7) and Warriors (12-6) are among the best teams in the Western Conference right now. However, the Pelicans are more interested in seeing what their eventual healthy roster can accomplish.
The organization wants to know what its working with before making a blockbuster trade. A rash decision could come back to bite a 4-16 team, making things go from bad to worse.
Pelicans Are Still Without Zion Williamson (Hamstring), Herb Jones (Shoulder), And Jose Alvarado (Hamstring)
Unfortunately, New Orleans is still far off from a clean bill of health. Zion Williamson remains out indefinitely with a hamstring injury, and the team is without Herb Jones (shoulder) and Jose Alvarado (hamstring).
From the sounds of it, even if the Pelicans wanted to move on from Brandon Ingram, that might not be a feasible option if teams aren’t lining up to acquire him. One thing is for certain: Ingram is definitely not New Orleans’ problem.
Through 16 games (all starts), Ingram is averaging 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 33.7 minutes per contest while shooting 46.5% from the field, 36.4% from 3-point territory, and 83% at the foul line.
Since the Pelicans selected Williamson No. 1 overall out of Duke in the 2019 draft, the two-time All-Star forward has missed 214 out of a possible 404 regular-season games.
Williamson has already missed the Pelicans’ past 11 games after suffering the injury in a Nov. 6 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He appeared in a career-high 70 games last season.
Instead of trading Ingram, now is the best time to move on from an injury-prone Williamson. Even then, it’s not like his five-year, $197.23 million contract would be easier to trade than Ingram’s deal.
