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The New Orleans Pelicans have edged out the Utah Jazz as the worst team in the Western Conference, holding a 4-17 record after two months of the regular season. While some of this losing involved bad play, a good chunk of it involved injuries to Pelicans stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. For instance, Williamson has only played in six games this season, and it doesn't matter how good you are if you can't play–as they say, the best ability is availability. Likewise, Ingram has struggled with injuries himself, and now he has signed to Klutch Sports in an intriguing career move ahead of free agency.
“[Brandon] Ingram signed with the Rich Paul-led Klutch Sports Group,” according to Bleacher Report, following NBA insider Shams Charania's initial report for ESPN.
The report continues that this move “comes after the forward and New Orleans Pelicans did not come to terms on a contract extension or trade before the 2024-25 campaign.”
Should the Pelicans trade the star forward?
Drafted No. 2 in 2016, Brandon Ingram started his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but became one of the pieces in the blockbuster Anthony Davis trade between the Lakers and Pelicans that brought The Brow from Louisiana to Hollywood.
In his first season with the Pels, the forward blossomed into an All-Star, a tall and sweet-shooting forward and somewhat lesser version of Kevin Durant who can handle the ball and shoot from anywhere on the court.
Likewise, the 27-year-old Ingram signed a five-year, $158-million max deal to stay with the Pelicans in 2020.
While he has played well with the team, leading them to two playoff appearances in four years, both ending in first-round exits, he has ceded the role of franchise guy to Zion.
Yet durability has become an issue for both players–Ingram has never played more than 64 games for the Pelicans. This season, he has played 16 games, however, averaging 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.
Since Pelicans GM David Griffin didn't offer Brandon Ingram a new contract, it's safe to say they're either in talks to trade him or let him walk in free agency, which might be why he signed with Klutch Sports.
What happens now?
Obviously, any self-respecting NBA GM wouldn't let a player like Ingram leave without receiving an equal haul in return, which perhaps affected his trade value around the league.
Several teams could use the length and athletic wing scoring that Ingram could provide, but injury issues could have made them gun-shy in making an offer.
Still, one team that always finds its way into trade rumors is the Lakers, and one of the most powerful players on that team is Klutch client LeBron James, close friend of Rich Paul, so there are dots to connect here.
However, all this talk might just be Ingram leveraging a big-market team like the Lakers to generate interest from other teams, so take all this with a grain of salt.
