Last season, the New Orleans Pelicans had a -3 net rating when Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram shared the court. It was far worse than that during the playoffs (-35 net rating) while the Pelicans were swept out of the playoffs by the Thunder.
Ingram is extension eligible this offseason, but instead New Orleans is going to aggressively try to trade him, reports NBA insider Marc Stein in his latest newsletter.
“A growing belief leaguewide that Pelicans will aggressively explore the trade market for Brandon Ingram before next season,”
Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Orlando are the teams considered likely to be interested, according to Stein.
Ingram is a high-level isolation scorer who averaged 20.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game this season. However, there has never been a natural chemistry between him, Zion, and McCollum. New Orleans is committed to Zion long-term and is not looking to move on from the “adult in the room” in McCollum, which could leave Ingram as the guy without a chair when the music stops.
New Orleans can extend Ingram this season at a max of around $200 million, but they have no interest in that, reports Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune. Clark adds that the official line is New Orleans is “open” to extending Ingram at a number the team likes, and if he agreed the goal would become to add better-itting pieces next to Ingram, Zion and McCollum.
However, Clark says if Ingram and the Pelicans can’t agree to an extension, they will likely try to trade him. If Cleveland decides its two-bigs lineup is not working and wants to move on from Jarrett Allen, could a deal be found?
Expect big changes to the roster in New Orleans this summer. They want to keep Zion, McCollum, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III (who will get a massive contract extension this summer), which means Ingram could be the man on the move.
