It was the bomb of the night: Dejounte Murray was transferred to the Pelicans. While Brandon Ingram’s future was already very uncertain in New Orleans, the arrival of Murray could definitively push him towards the exit.
Already before 12:42 a.m. last night, the time of the Dejounte Murray trade, Brandon Ingram’s future with the Pels was unclear. BI is about to enter the final year of his contract and is looking for a new deal that the Pelicans don’t seem ready to offer him. “We would like to stay together but there is a financial reality that we cannot ignore” manager David Griffin recently declared. Translation: we like you, but not enough to give you the big extension you want.
With the arrival of Dejounte Murray, it’s even harder to imagine a scenario where Ingram stays in the Bayou.
Dejounte Murray brings a real dose of talent to New Orleans on the backcourt, which was a real need for them.
That clearly doesn’t solve their spacing stories (Dejounte + Zion…?), but you boost your 5 major while waiting to see what Brandon will do…
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) https://twitter.com/TrashTalk_fr/status/1806822570966110281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
On paper, having Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum is impressive. On the field? Hello spacing and ball sharing problems. Clearly, there are one or two players too many in this quartet. Knowing that Zion is the franchise player and that Dejounte has just arrived, we inevitably turn to McCollum but especially Ingram given the latter’s contractual situation. In addition, with the size that Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III have taken, two hyper valuable 3&D wings for the Pels, our friend Brandon seems almost destined to jump.
As of this writing, the Pelicans are set to pay this quartet $130 million next season. Murray’s move brings New Orleans closer to the luxury tax, while they only have 12 players under contract and still don’t have a center outside of rookie Yves Missi (Jonas Valanciunas is a free agent, Larry Nance Jr. left for Atlanta). Suffice to say that the math isn’t very good, David.
Because New Orleans aggregated the salaries of Larry Nance Jr. and Dyson Daniels, they are now hard capped at the $178.7M first apron.
Murray has $1.5M in unlikely bonuses that count toward the apron.
12 players under contract.
Below tax: $2.6
Below 1st apron: $8.5
Both…
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1806828622482907360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
For basketball reasons as well as budgetary reasons, it seems quite untenable to keep Brandon Ingram with the Pelicans. Because even if the two camps find common ground on an affordable contract for the franchise, it is difficult to see how the Pels could not step on each other’s toes once on the floor. And it doesn’t matter what combinations coach Willie Green can try.
Ingram will definitely interest people on the transfer market, and it may be the time for the Pels to take advantage of it to fill other needs (notably at position 5). If he had a complicated end of season due in particular to physical problems, BI remains a 26-year-old All-Star caliber winger, a very good scorer, also capable of transforming into a playmaker. We know several franchises that are looking for this type of winger to strengthen themselves ASAP (Sixers, Kings, even Cleveland).
In short, you understand, Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans are probably over. Where will he continue his career?
