NBA rumors: Pelicans' Brandon Ingram trade talks dead before deadline

Yesterday at 01:51 PM

While it seemed inevitable at one time that Brandon Ingram would be parting ways with the New Orleans Pelicans amid constant trade rumors, the partnership may be lasting a lot longer than anyone expected.

Ingram has been out since early December, having missed the last 19 games due to a left ankle sprain. Although New Orleans is heading toward potentially the worst record in the NBA, it doesn’t appear the team will trade Ingram before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.

“Ingram’s name very rarely comes up in conversations with league personnel,” Jake Fischer wrote on The Stein Line Substack. “It’s been that way ever since the former All-Star forward went down with an ankle injury on Dec. 7.

“There remains a chance Ingram returns to New Orleans’ lineup with roughly a week’s worth of games before the deadline, sources say, which would at least give potential suitors a more current reminder of his abilities.”

With little to no interest around the league and no recent tape to go off of, Ingram very well may be a member of the Pelicans until the offseason, which seemed unlikely after the two sides could not work out a contract extension last summer. And unfortunately, the numbers that Ingram was shooting for last offseason may not be realistic this time around either, which could lead to him staying put in New Orleans.

“I’m told that the Pelicans still remain open to re-signing Ingram this summer after the sides were unable to agree to a contract extension this past offseason,” Fischer wrote. “Ingram, sources said, was not amenable to New Orleans’ offers that landed in the $40 million range in average annual value. Yet it could well be just as challenging for Ingram, who makes $36 million this season, to find that type of money available on the open market this summer — just as is often said about Jimmy Butler’s quest for a high-dollar contract if the back-with-Miami Butler declines his $52.4 million player option for 2025-26.”

Fischer reported that the Pelicans even feel “confident” that Ingram will not simply walk away from the team and sign with another club in the offseason. Even if Ingram does come to an agreement elsewhere, New Orleans seems to expect the deal to come in the way of a sign-and-trade, which would give the Pelicans something in return for losing Ingram.

Ingram was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2016 draft. The Lakers later traded him to the Pelicans in the summer of 2019 as part of the Anthony Davis deal. Ingram has been with the Pelicans since then. He earned an All-Star appearance in 2020 and averaged a career-high 24.7 points per game in 2022-23.

The post NBA rumors: Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram trade talks dead before deadline appeared first on ClutchPoints.