New Orleans found the trade market for Brandon Ingram lukewarm. The Pelicans want to trade him in part because they don’t want to pay him on his next contract — the maximum would be four years, $208 million — but other teams feel the same way.
Ingram’s management team is working with the Pelicans to find Ingram a new home, Marc Stein reported in his latest Substack newsletter.
“Ingram, with one All-Star appearance under his belt as [Lauri] Markkanen has just one season left on his current contract and is seeking a four-year contract extension worth nearly $210 million. The Pelicans have made it clear that they will not make that much of an effort to re-sign him, and while several teams have seriously explored Ingram negotiations since the start of the offseason, no other team willing to sign the 26-year-old at those numbers has yet emerged.”
Ingram is one of the players suspended under the new CBA. He is a top-notch isolation scorer, averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists in nearly 33 minutes per night in 64 games for the Pelicans last season. Many teams could use a bucket-hunter like Ingram.
However, teams don’t want to give him more than $50 million per year, or 30% of his cap hit. In a second apron fiscal world, teams will be more careful about who gets the max contract, and if there are questions about how much a player contributes to the win or whether there is a history of injuries — both things that apply to Ingram — the teams are hesitant.
It’s something to watch over the next few years to see how things play out for players like Ingram or Zach LaVine. Will they be able to get the most out of a team, and if not, where will their salaries fall? The new CBA changes the dynamic.
What we do know is that Ingram’s management is still looking for that team willing to pay him that maximum.
