It’s no secret: The The New Orleans Pelicans are “aggressively” trying to trade Brandon Ingram since last season. Two things stood in the way of that happening: Ingram’s $36 million salary, which is difficult to move, and the fact that it’s the final year of his deal, so he’s looking for a team to sign him to a max or near-max new contract. There was enough friction between New Orleans and Ingram did not show up for the team’s voluntary offseason practicesthough by all accounts he was professional during this young season.
The update to this saga is that there is no update. Despite what has been an ugly 4-16 start to the season, the Pelicans are still looking for a trade — one where they take back less money and lower their tax bill — but finding a receiver to sign Ingram long-term remains a challenge. problem. Here’s what Brian Windhorst wrote on ESPN.
Sources told ESPN that the two sides have been unable to agree on a contract extension and trade talks since last summer have not been reconciled. Finding a place where New Orleans can send Ingram’s $36 million salary and get value while shedding salary — the Pelicans are currently on the luxury tax for the first time in history and likely won’t stay there — is tough enough. But finding an agreement with the team Ingram will be comfortable, signing a new contract with, according to sources, also stopped the talks.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps adds that the NBA’s new CBA and its tax shields add to the challenge.
The league’s new collective bargaining agreement continues to cause a lot of friction among teams. Signing a player like Ingram, a 6-foot-6 forward who has averaged at least 20 points per game for six consecutive seasons, will require a hefty contract next summer. All but a few franchises have limited salary cap space and teams are reluctant to make trades early in the season. Several teams on the other side are not even allowed to trade for him.
Injuries have decimated the Pelicans through the first 20 games of the season, and with Zion Williamson expected to miss more time with a hamstring strain, the Pelicans face some tough decisions. While we may be only one quarter into the NBA season, the Pelicans are already 6.5 games out of the final seed in the West and would need to leapfrog five teams — and improve their record to .500, respectively. better – just to get into that conversation.
At what point does management begin to consider a pivot to refueling, um… focus on young players and watch the NBA draft? (No one in the NBA would actually tank, right?) This is a different situation than Philadelphia in the East just because of conference differences — the 3-14 Sixers are just four games into the postseason and don’t need to get back to .500 to make it. Philly has time to turn it around, but New Orleans?
None of this makes trading Ingram any easier. Maybe the Pelicans will just ride with him all season as a shooter on a struggling team. Nothing is easy for New Orleans this season.