{"id":109846,"date":"2024-11-30T09:12:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T14:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=109846"},"modified":"2024-11-30T09:13:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T14:13:11","slug":"pelicans-brandon-ingram-stalemate-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/30\/pelicans-brandon-ingram-stalemate-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelicans\u2019 Brandon Ingram \u2018Stalemate\u2019 May Leave Only One Option"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans and Brandon Ingram<\/a> are working together to get him to a new team. An All-Star in the 2019-20 season, Ingram hasn\u2019t reached the heights that many believed he could<\/a>. Nonetheless, he\u2019s proven himself to be an upper echelon wing and one of the better players league-wide. Still, the organization is salary-conscious, and he wants to get paid more than they\u2019re willing to offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for both parties, \u201cIngram and New Orleans are at a stalemate ahead of his unrestricted free agency<\/a> next summer,\u201d report ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps.<\/p>\n

\u201dSources told ESPN the two sides can’t agree on a contract extension and trade talks since last summer have failed to align. Finding a place where New Orleans can send Ingram’s $36 million salary and get value while also reducing salary \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pelicans\u2019 Brandon Ingram \u2018Stalemate\u2019 May Leave Only One Option<\/h2>\n

Obviously, Ingram\u2019s predicament is the byproduct of a layered reality.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s often risen above expectations<\/a> with his play though and that should be commended. While face of the franchise Zion Williamson had a sloppy start, he came out the blocks like Usain Bolt. However, he isn\u2019t going to change the perception of his play overnight. Only time will tell if he will improve his shot-selection, remain consistent from beyond the arc, and competitive defensively.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019s still playing with that bravado in February, interest in executing a trade may increase. If not, he\u2019s going to ride out the rest of the season not knowing where he stands. Even New Orleans\u2019 best offer may be below what he feels is his value. The only way to test that out would be to field offers from other teams.<\/p>\n

Testing The Free Agent Market<\/h3>\n

If Ingram tests free agency, it\u2019s with the knowledge that the Pelicans can pay him more money than any team. On the one hand, this gives New Orleans leverage. On the other hand, their unwillingness to go that far in negotiations could prompt Ingram to leave anyways.<\/p>\n

Ingram wouldn\u2019t be the first player whose frustrations with an organization made it difficult to return. Just this summer, Paul George<\/a> and Klay Thompson<\/a> left the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, respectively. The impetus for both of their moves was a contractual dispute.<\/p>\n

Honestly, Ingram is probably aware that no team may be willing to offer him the max. Still, there may be a team willing to pay him upwards of $30 million per year. Teams like the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons have demonstrated their willingness to offer high salary short-term contracts to provide structure with their rebuild.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Nets<\/h4>\n

Next offseason, the Brooklyn Nets will be one of the teams in that same position. As has been oft-reported, they\u2019re projected to have more than $75 million<\/a> in cap space. If they can\u2019t get or don\u2019t want to sign Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler<\/a>, who has been linked to them<\/a>, perhaps they pivot to Ingram.<\/p>\n

Washington Wizards<\/h4>\n

With over $40 million in projected cap space, the Washington Wizards are another option. Though they clearly value their young pieces, they could consider a sign-and-trade involving Ingram and Kyle Kuzma<\/a>. Indeed, when an anonymous general manager told ESPN that \u201cat some point you might see one of these guys just get traded for another\u201d in regards to players like Ingram, Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine<\/a>, Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young<\/a>, and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kuzma is another player often mentioned in trade rumors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s overlap in their skillsets, Ingram is the more advanced scorer. With the Wizards ranking 26th in points per game (107.8), 25th in field goal percentage (.442), and 28th in three-point percentage (.320), that could matter to them. Financially, the Pelicans would achieve their goal of reducing payroll as Kuzma is on a descending contract<\/a>\u00a0and will only make $21.5 million next season.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks<\/h4>\n

While rebuilding teams are projected to have the most cap space next offseason, contenders have been willing to get creative to sign players. Among those teams, the Milwaukee Bucks stand out as a feasible sign-and-trade destination. Not for Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> or Damian Lillard<\/a>, but Khris Middleton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With his injury history and the likelihood he picks up his $34 million 2025-26 player option, the Bucks could be motivated to move him. Though the mental strain that comes with wondering whether Middleton will be healthy would be passed to the Pelicans, he\u2019s usually sharp at both ends of the court. Bringing him in on what could be a one-year rental, audition, or auction also just gives New Orleans myriad options moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans and Brandon Ingram are working together to get him to a new team. An All-Star in the 2019-20 season, Ingram hasn\u2019t reached the heights that many believed he could. Nonetheless, he\u2019s proven himself to be an upper echelon wing and one of the better players league-wide. Still, the organization is salary-conscious, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":109879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1608,6,15,62,4721,18],"tags":[308,324,1128,297,4774],"class_list":["post-109846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pelicans","category-basketball","category-nets","category-bucks","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","category-wizards","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-khris-middleton","tag-kyle-kuzma","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}