by It’s no secret: the New Orleans Pelicans ‘aggressively’ attempted to trade Brandon Ingram since the last offseason. Two things stopped this from happening: Ingram’s $36 million salary, which is difficult to move, and the fact that this is the last year of his contract, so he is looking for a team that will sign him to a new max or near max contract. There was enough friction between New Orleans and Ingram that he did not show up for the team’s voluntary off-season workoutsalthough by all reports he has been professional throughout this young season.
The update on this saga is that there is no update. Despite what has been a lousy 4-16 start to the season, the Pelicans are still looking for a trade – one in which they get less money and reduce their tax bill – but finding a taker who will sign Ingram to Long term is always a challenge. issue. Here’s what Brian Windhorst wrote on ESPN.
Sources told ESPN that the two sides could not agree on a contract extension and that trade talks since last summer had failed to align. Finding a place where New Orleans can send Ingram’s $36 million salary and profit while reducing his salary – the Pelicans are currently subject to the luxury tax for the first time and are not in danger of staying there – is difficult enough. But finding a deal with a team that Ingram will be comfortable signing a new contract with has also stalled negotiations, according to sources.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps adds that the NBA’s new CBA and its tax aprons add to the challenge.
The league’s new collective bargaining agreement continues to cause a lot of friction between teams. Signing a player like Ingram, a 6-foot-8 forward who has averaged at least 20 points per game for six straight seasons, will require a big contract next summer. All but a few franchises have limited salary cap space, and teams are reluctant to limit themselves to a trade early in the season. The different teams in the second apron are not even allowed to trade against him.
Injuries have decimated the Pelicans through the first 20 games of the season and with Zion Williamson expected to miss significant time due to a hamstring strain, the Pelicans have some tough choices to make. Although we’re only a quarter into the NBA season, the Pelicans are already 6.5 games out of the final play-in spot in the West and should surpass five teams — and improve their record to .500 or better – just to get into this conversation.
At what point does management start to think about a pivot to tanking, uh… focus on young players and look to the NBA draft? (No one in the NBA would tank, right?) It’s a different situation than Philadelphia in the East simply because of the conference disparity: the 3-14 Sixers are only four playoff games and don’t need to return. at .500 to get there. Philly has time to turn things around, but New Orleans?
None of this makes Ingram trading any easier. Maybe the Pelicans will ride with him all season as a scorer on a struggling team. Nothing is easy for New Orleans this season.
