Brandon Ingram has watched his contract situation closely. While the recently-acquired New Orleans Pelicans star decided to bet on himself and try his chances as a restricted free agent this upcoming summer, he's seen others from his draft class get the motherlode and be rewarded for their play.
Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, signed for a whopping $170 million over the next five years. Jaylen Brown, drafted a spot after Ingram, inked a four-year, $115 million deal with the Boston Celtics right before the start of the season.
Buddy Hield, the No. 6 pick in that draft, received four years and $106 million after some major posturing and arm-yanking with general manager Vlade Divac.
Yet Ingram can't help but want what these guys now have.
“When we talked about the extension, of course, I'm human,” Ingram told ESPN's Andrew Lopez. “When I look at other guys, I'm like, ‘This motherf***er got an extension? Oh my god. Man, we can lace up right now and play one-on-one to 15 and this motherf***er won't score.' That's how I looked at it as a competitor.”
However, Ingram could be setting himself up for some stiff competition in next year's marketplace. He is 10th in the league in scoring, posting career-highs across the board with 25.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks.
He's also shooting a robust 49.1% from the field and a career-best 40.9% from deep and a vastly improved 85.7% from the foul line — a near 18% increase from last season.
The 2020 free agency won't have as much money as the 2019 class did, but Ingram is setting himself up for a bidding war in the coming months, as the Pelicans will have to pay a stiff price to keep him. The doubts about him holding up after a blood clot surfaced at the end of last season made New Orleans hesitate, and that might just translate into a few more stacks of cash for one of the most improved players in the league.
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