David Griffin is not a stranger to the rigors of being in an NBA front office. Before he took over as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019, Griffin had spent nearly seven years with the Cleveland Cavaliers, struggling through four seasons without LeBron James, and then encountering a new set of struggles with him, related to crafting and keeping a championship contender in tact. The spotlight doesn't shine as bright in New Orleans, but David Griffin still has tough decisions to make.
The one on the forefront of his mind, and the one that the entire National Basketball Association is keeping an eye on this summer is what the Pelicans will do with veteran forward Brandon Ingram. Ingram, the 2020 Most Improved Player of the Year, has mostly plateaued since earning that honor four years ago, and his availability (or lack there of) has been a problem. In the past three seasons, Ingram has missed a combined 82 games — the equivalent of a full season's worth of games. Despite this, if you ask David Griffin about Brandon Ingram's status with the Pelicans, and he's going to give all the right answers.
“Brandon (Ingram) wants to stay here,” David Griffin said on Wednesday night, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic. “He believes in what we're building. That's meaningful to us. … At the same time, there's a financial reality that we all deal with. We're excited about Brandon. We know he's excited about us.”
A savvy answer from a front office veteran who knows that appearing too eager to trade Brandon Ingram will only submarine his trade value. Now, David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans find themselves at a crossroads. They either need to pay Brandon Ingram a max deal and go into the luxury tax with a nucleus that has increased its win percentage of the last six seasons (but has won a total of one playoff game in that time) or find a trade partner for Ingram before next February's trade deadline instead of letting him walk next summer and getting nothing back in return.
The uncertain future of the New Orleans Pelicans
Brandon Ingram isn't the only piece of the Pelicans' core that comes with either baggage or a big Smoothie King Center-sized question mark next to him. Take for example, Zion Williamson. It's well-known that the Pelicans want to build their current roster around Zion, which gives New Orleans even more reason to ship Ingram out in return for players who fit more neatly around Zion Williamson. And given what the Pelicans saw out of Zion Williamson over the back half of the season, there's reason to believe he's a player worth building around.
However, even though Zion played 70 games during the regular season, he still missed New Orleans' very brief playoff stint due to a fluky hamstring injury. But considering how staying healthy, in shape and on the court has been such a struggle for Zion throughout his young NBA career, there's still reason for concern if you're New Orleans and you plan to build around the 2019 1st overall pick.
The highest paid player on the Pelicans roster aside from Zion Williamson is CJ McCollum, who is on the wrong side of 30 and is owed $63 million over the next two seasons. In the summer of 2026, when Trey Murphy III enters restricted free agency, it's overwhelmingly likely that the Pelicans will want to lock him up to a long-term deal, if they haven't already by the time the summer of 2026 rolls around.
In an ideal world, all of these pieces would coalesce and the Pelicans could fly higher — pun intended — than they ever have. But in order to get to that point, David Griffin and the Pels might need to make the tough decision to trade Brandon Ingram.
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