{"id":118793,"date":"2025-01-18T17:58:56","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T22:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=118793"},"modified":"2025-01-18T18:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T23:00:17","slug":"pelicans-franchise-cornerstone-brandon-ingram-crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/18\/pelicans-franchise-cornerstone-brandon-ingram-crossroads\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelicans, Franchise Cornerstone Remain At Crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans have been busy trying to find a suitable trade for incumbent franchise cornerstone Brandon Ingram<\/a>. In fact, \u201cthere remains a chance<\/a>\u201d he returns to the lineup, according to The Stein Line insider Jake Fischer. If so, it \u201cwould at least give potential suitors a more current reminder of his abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pelicans themselves may be one such team, as they \u201cstill remain open to re-signing Ingram this summer after the sides were unable to agree to a contract extension this past offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelicans, Brandon Ingram Remain At Crossroads<\/h2>\n

The Pelicans\u2019 decision to re-sign Ingram doesn\u2019t have to be made today, so they can afford to take the scenic path. To that point, their phone lines are still open, and there are three weeks left to make a trade happen.<\/p>\n

In that time, a team that Ingram is open to re-signing might decide they would rather add the 27-year-old one-time All-Star than not. The Los Angeles Lakers may be hesitant to make that type of move<\/a> but perhaps the Denver Nuggets or Golden State Warriors will play ball<\/a>. Alternately, Ingram could change his mind about playing for the Utah Jazz, who have already made an offer<\/a> that appeals to the Pelicans.<\/p>\n

Assuming New Orleans can\u2019t find the right trade for Ingram, they have 39 games remaining this season. In that three-month stretch, their 2024-25 campaign will go one of two ways. Although they have a mediocre 11-32 record, they could theoretically still get back on track.<\/p>\n

Zion Williamson<\/a> has been dominant since his return. CJ McCollum<\/a> has been lighting up the scoreboard. Dejounte Murray<\/a> is finding his groove. Trey Murphy III<\/a> is finding his shooting stroke. Yves Missi<\/a> is looking like a Rookie of the Year candidate<\/a>. If Ingram is playing at a high level when he makes his way back, perhaps they\u2019ll make a playoff push.<\/p>\n

To Trade Or Not To Trade?<\/h3>\n

If the Pelicans don\u2019t gain momentum, they\u2019ll be a lottery team.<\/p>\n

Indeed, they\u2019re currently projected to have<\/a> the fourth pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. By then, Duke forward Cooper Flagg<\/a> and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper<\/a> will likely already be off the board. Rutgers forward Ace Bailey<\/a> could slip though given the fascination with Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis<\/a>, a jumbo-sized playmaker with a crisp three-point stroke.<\/p>\n

If the ping pong balls fall in their favor, they\u2019ll almost certainly take Flagg, who has a high floor but boundless potential. Nonetheless, given their positional needs, the Pelicans would likely take any of the aforementioned prospects. The problem is that if New Orleans is good but not good enough \u2014like last season \u2014they\u2019ll likely have a lower pick, which could perpetuate their middling status.<\/p>\n

Consequently, trading Ingram could benefit the Pelicans more than keeping him. Thus, their preferred option may be to find a deal for the Kinston native.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans have been busy trying to find a suitable trade for incumbent franchise cornerstone Brandon Ingram. In fact, \u201cthere remains a chance\u201d he returns to the lineup, according to The Stein Line insider Jake Fischer. If so, it \u201cwould at least give potential suitors a more current reminder of his abilities.\u201d The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":118817,"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":[33,1608,62,556,3,4721],"tags":[308,98,297,4774],"class_list":["post-118793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pelicans","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118793","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=118793"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118819,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118793\/revisions\/118819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}