Just days after Zion Williamson decided to part ways with his representatives at CAA, a second Pelicans star is also switching agencies. Sources tell Will Guillory and Kelly Iko of The Athletic that Brandon Ingram is leaving Excel Sports Management (Twitter link).
Both RealGM and HoopsHype had Ingram’s agents listed as Jeff Schwartz and Jordan Gertler. It’s not yet known which agency Ingram will be joining, but he’ll have to wait 15 days before he can hire new representation.
It’s certainly an interesting development, as the former All-Star forward is set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2025. Ingram was reportedly seeking a maximum-salary extension over the offseason, which the Pelicans were unwilling to offer. His name then surfaced in trade rumors, but obviously he’s still with New Orleans — his contract demands likely played a factor in no move being made.
Ingram is earning about $36MM in 2024/25, which is the final season of his contract.
The second overall pick of the 2016 draft, Ingram is in his sixth season with the Pelicans, who acquired him from the Lakers in the Anthony Davis trade back in 2019. Through 16 games this season, the 27-year-old is averaging 22.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 5.4 APG on .465/.364/.830 shooting in 33.7 MPG.
Although Ingram has been very productive during his time in New Orleans, injuries have also been an issue, as he’s missed at least 10 games in each of his five full seasons with the Pelicans, who have once again by plagued by ailments to open ’24/25. The club is currently sitting in last place in the Western Conference with a 4-13 record.
If some team pays him a max contract you know that GM will get fired. He probably will get around a 5/150 deal from a desperate GM.
I can see BI14 getting a huge deal from a desperate team like Washington or Chicago (god I hope this doesn’t happen). Good player but I remember when he first came out, everyone had KD comp attached to him. He’s a good player but will be a 2nd/3rd best player on a real title team.
I don’t think he can do that currently, honestly. Ingram’s biggest issue is that he 100% needs the ball in his hands to be effective. As a 2nd option, it would almost have to devolve into Melo/AI-esque “your turn, my turn” offense, and he’d only be additive, not multiplicative as an asset. If he can improve his actions off-ball and start playing defense, he could be a quality 2nd option. As of right now, he’s a sub-par 1st option who doesn’t really add much as a #2. Unlike guys like Beal, who can function in a tandem and is a top-notch spacer, or LaVine, who has the tools to play any role off-ball even if it’s not his preference, Ingram isn’t that versatile. He has the tools, but doesn’t really perform in that role.
100% spot on with everything you said. He’s not a difference maker out there. He just gets his numbers and doesn’t really impact the game on either end of the court. Some team will be desperate to sign him though based on him being a bucket. Lol
I wouldn’t say *no* impact, but certainly less than you’d expect with the numbers he puts up. Spacing and rebounds are always valuable, and he does have some playmaking ability. He just doesn’t do a lot outside of the direct impact of his points, rebounds, and assists. Defensively, he is of no value, though.
He’ll still be a hot commodity next summer, but I think the BI14 hype train left the station about 2-3 years ago. Lol
Excellent analysis. It’ll be interesting to see how the market values BI this summer. His stock has fallen.
The best BI comp is DeMar DeRozan, who got $25M/yr from Sacramento. Both DeRozan & BI:
– need shots, but have poor 3pt% for a modern SF
– are under-average defensively.
Ingram also reliably misses ~25 games / season.
I’m predicting he lands a 3 yr deal at $28M/yr.
DeRozan is far beyond Ingram as a playmaker and is more available. He reminds me of Antawan Jamison, but with less rebounding ability. That’s where I comp Ingram, and it’s not a good thing. Jamison was a pure system player who flatlined as soon as he ended up in a real offense.
I think that’s a realistic deal, but I doubt Ingram will settle for that. His ego is too big.
EonADS, two interesting points
1. NOLA may have a (suddenly) renewed interest in keeping Ingram if they are indeed considering their option to release Zion and his contract ?!
2. Assuming NOLA remains uninterested in signing him, Ingram already knows that there is no NBA team interested in making him a big offer. We know that after NOLA couldn’t find any deal for BI this past summer (they were highly motivated to move him), they gave his agent permission to talk directly to all NBA teams to put a sign-and-trade together. There was no interest at Ingram’s asking price.
Don’t be surprised if they both land with Klutch.
They play well enough just to get paid. They are not about winning. :(
If this team stayed healthy BI’s 22 ppg would be enough to contend in west. Ingram can’t be the best (available) player on a winning team.
He played well alongside Valanciunas. He needs to be paired with a similarly skilled big, who compensates for his weaknesses.
Trade coming…