NBA Swing: Is Brandon Ingram Forcing his Way out of New Orleans?

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Over the course of the summer, New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram has been at the top of trade rumors. Ingram has been linked to several teams in trade rumors including the Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, and more. With the 2024-25 season just weeks away, no trade for Ingram has been made.

Entering the final year of his five-year, $158 million contract, Ingram is owed $36 million for the 2024-25 season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. With recent changes to the CBA, the lack of years left on his deal, and the fact he hasn’t played more than 65 games since his rookie season teams are, hesitant to trade for Ingram.

In August, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted that Ingram is seeking a $200 million contract, something New Orleans does not want to give him. Following the Pelicans exit from the playoffs in 2024, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin noted that the team would be making changes after several years of seeing the same core have little success. Ingram would instantly be in talks for potential trades, but the biggest offseason move the Pelicans would make would be the Dejounte Murray trade.

Nearing the 2024-25 season, the rumors of Ingram being on the move have only increased despite the lack of true suitors. At the end of August, Ingram would post a video of a motivational speaker pushing people to leave environments that do not recognize the person’s value on his Instagram, fueling potential trade rumors.

The rumors would continue this week when reports of Ingram skipping the Pelicans’ week-long voluntary minicamp last week came out. Reported by William Guillory of The Athletic, the Pelicans held a voluntary minicamp in California last week which almost all of the team attended except Ingram and new signing Daniel Theis. The team believed that Ingram would attend the minicamp but they showed up.

While he has not reached the levels of these players, recent years have seen players like James Harden and Ben Simmons miss camps and regular season games in order to force their teams to trade them. With New Orleans looking to build chemistry with their new core of Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, and Ingram, the lack of Ingram attending minicamp will affect the chemistry heading into the season, putting them in a similar position to the Philadelphia 76ers with Harden and Simmons.

The Pelicans have seen some success during Ingram’s tenure with the team. The team has had several playoff appearances, as well as Play-In Tournament appearances. The Pelicans would be first-round exits in their playoff appearances, with Zion Williamson missing both playoff series and Ingram underperforming due to an injury in the 2024 playoffs.

Even though many teams would see trading for Ingram as a risk with him set to become a free agent, Ingram has proven to be a solid wing in the league that could be a second or third star on a championship team. Last season, Ingram had a solid season, despite taking a small step back in several statistical categories. In 64 games (the most played since his rookie season in 2016-17), Ingram averaged 20.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 5.7 APG on shooting splits of 49% from the field, 35% from beyond the arc, and 80% from the free throw line. Most of the games missed by Ingram would be attributed to lower leg injuries.

While it is possible that Ingram could be traded before the season starts, several trade rumors have been shut down. Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area has seen the odds of Ingram joining the Warriors are now saying:

“Brandon Ingram, to cite an example, is among those who, according to sources, do not meet that level. There’s enough pro/con that any chance of him coming to Golden State is minuscule.”

With Ingram and New Orleans unable to come to terms on a new deal, he is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025. Ingram is expected to be one of the most desirable free agents with many other top free agents in 2025 having player options.