Brandon Ingram entered the 2024-25 NBA season knowing that it would be the most important campaign of his career so far. He and the New Orleans Pelicans failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension in the offseason. If they don't sign a new deal by the end of the season, June 30, he'll become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
With that in mind, it's highly likely that he won't finish the year as a Pelican. If New Orleans doesn't trade him before the deadline, they'll risk losing him for nothing in free agency. That would be a major loss, so it only makes sense for them to deal him away, even if it means taking a worse package than market value.
Reportedly, other teams and their executives have been using this time to evaluate Ingram and whether he'd be a good fit for their plans. Ingram has had the luxury and the burden of being the unquestioned number-one option for the Pelicans, with Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Dejounte Murray out with injury for the majority of the early season and the near future. Here's how he's done in the last 10 games in this heightened role.
Brandon Ingram's last 10 games for the New Orleans Pelicans
It became clear over the past few seasons that Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson were a deeply flawed duo. They had too many overlapping skills and weaknesses as two one-dimensional point forwards who do their best work on offense inside of the arc. Because of that, it's been highly theorized that both players might be better off without having to share the court with the other.
In his last 10 games, Ingram has averaged 22.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists while shooting 45 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc. This sample has proven that theory false, although it does show that BI is one of the most consistent players in the league. According to statmuse, Ingram has averaged 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on 47/38/85 shooting splits when playing alongside Zion.
10 games is a small sample, but there are a few takeaways that can be drawn from Ingram's recent performance. Firstly, his trade market shouldn't be widely affected by this stretch, and it won't likely change much before February's deadline either. He'll probably continue to put up 20-25 points while adding 8-12 combined assists and rebounds night in and night out.
As for betting on Ingram, he's a pretty safe wager. He's scored over 20 points on six of his last 10, and nine out of 15 games overall. He's also totaled 10 or more combined assists and rebounds in 11 out of 15 outings, including eight of his last 10. Betting on him to nab over 20 points in a game or over 30 combined points, rebounds, and assists has been an extremely shrewd move.