Following their elimination from the NBA playoffs, the New Orleans Pelicans have made a shocking decision regarding one of their star players.
This from NBA reporter Evan Sidery:
The Pelicans are not expected to offer Brandon Ingram a contract extension this offseason.
Ingram is eligible to sign a four-year, $208 million deal, but New Orleans will be going in another direction.
Trey Murphy III is also eligible for a rookie-scale extension expected to pay him $20-25 million annually.
All signs point towards New Orleans prioritizing Murphy over Ingram as their wing of the future.
New Orleans will have Ingram’s $36 million salary and valuable draft capital to attempt to pair another star alongside Zion Williamson.
Ingram was a key piece of the trade which sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2019.
Ingram was an All-Star for the Pelicans in 2020 and won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award that year as well.
It’s quite a surprise that the Pelicans are choosing to break up their core of Zion Williamson, C.J. McCollum and Ingram as they seemed to be making strides when all were able to take the court at the same time.
The Pelicans postseason run was derailed when Zion Williamson suffered a hamstring injury which sidelined him for the entire series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder swept that series in four games and Ingram in particular struggled mightily which may have played a part in the Pelicans decision to move on from him.
