Brandon Ingram is likely to get traded by New Orleans, but Anthony Slater thinks it won’t be to the Warriors
Four years ago, the Golden State Warriors traded for a highly-paid small forward who never quite lived up to his draft potential. Insider Anthony Slater doesn’t think they’ll try that gambit again.
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… pic.twitter.com/5fVrtFkTQK
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) May 4, 2024
New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram is going into the final year of a five-year, $158 million contract. The 26-year-old was the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2020, after a season where he made his first and only All-Star team. While the Pelicans can offer him an extension this summer, they reportedly have no interest in giving him a maximum contract, which means they’re likely to trade him, rather than see him leave in free agency next summer.
Slater wrote, “If Brandon Ingram hits the trade market, I would not expect the Warriors to show interest.” In a podcast, he described the Warriors’ interest in Ingram as “less than lukewarm.” So, maybe don’t start ordering your “We Believe” Ingram jerseys yet, especially since the Warriors already retired his No. 14 for Tom Meschery.
The problem is that any team trading for Ingram needs to believe in him enough to extend him, probably at a large number. Ingram is already on a max deal, and he’s unlikely to settle for a lot less than the four years and $208 million he’s eligible for. At the same time, he’s coming off a season where his scoring, rebounding, and three-point shooting numbers all declined.
The Warriors clearly don’t believe in him they way they did when they traded D’Angelo Russell for Wiggins in 2020. Then, Wiggins was about to turn 25 years old, and the Warriors saw some potential for the former No. 1 pick that hadn’t been realized with the Minnesota Timberwolves. There’s less mystery about Ingram, who turns 27 before next season, and has had a few seasons as a top scoring option on a fairly talented Pelicans team.
Besides, the Warriors already gave Wiggins a big-money extension that they may be having second thoughts about. The difference is that Wiggins is locked in, for better or worse, for three years and just under $85 million. Ingram’s price tag would be higher and the years would have to run longer, while he’s arguably a worse fit on the Warriors roster.
Of course, Wiggins would be the obvious piece heading to New Orleans in trade for Ingram, as a salary match. And the Pelicans are likely moving off of Ingram because they want to play Herb Jones and Trey Murphy at wing slots, not add a different high-priced forward to block them.
So during a summer where the Warriors could make any number of moves, moving for Ingram is not going to be one of them.