The New Orleans Pelicans secured their future by locking up Brandon Ingram to a five-year, $158 million max contract this offseason. Or, they appeared to do so early on.
There were rumblings Ingram had verbally agreed to the deal, but had yet to actually sign as he awaited the potential inclusion of a player option for the fifth and final year. Brian Windhorst of ESPN called the option a “sensitive” topic.
However, Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin said Monday the player option was a non-issue.
Griffin told reporters–including Scott Kushner of The Times-Picayune–Ingram does not have a fifth-year player option, and that he “never hesitated” at the lack of inclusion.
David Griffin confirmed Brandon Ingram does not have a player option. And that Ingram never hesitated about it.
— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) November 30, 2020
Brandon Ingram was slated to be a restricted free agent this offseason. But the Pelicans bypassed RFA by inking him to a new contract.
It is not much of a surprise to hear Ingram did not make much of a possible player option. A max deal is as good as he could have hoped for, and Griffin probably sold him on the Pels building sustained success.
New Orleans has had a crazy offseason. Griffin pulled off a heist by acquiring Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams, two future first-round picks and a pair of pick swaps in a three-team deal involving the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bledsoe and Adams join a roster hoping to make a postseason push next year. Those hopes rest mostly on the development of the Pels' youngsters, including Ingram.
The former No. 2 overall pick had a career year this past season, averaging 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists en route to his first All-Star team.
Ingram should have the ball in his hands even more without Holiday on the floor, and the Pels are looking for him to be one of the franchise centerpieces.
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