As the 2024-25 NBA season has worn on, we've received more questions than answers about Brandon Ingram's future with the New Orleans Pelicans. This year was always expected to be his last in the Big Easy, as it had become glaringly obvious that his pairing with Zion Williamson had a ceiling on it, one that was well short of a championship-level tandem. The question with BI's departure was never if but when, and it had seemed like we finally had an answer: before this season's trade deadline.
New Orleans trading Ingram only became more likely when they started the campaign without getting an extension done. Sans a new deal, BI will enter unrestricted free agency in the offseason, putting the Pels at risk of losing him for nothing in the summer. That left the franchise with two choices: trade him or extend him before the end of the league year on June 30. Of course, they'd have to make that decision well before the summer, as they'd only have until February's trade deadline to move him if that was the path they wished to take.
Since season tip-off, we've received conflicting reports on Ingram's future. When he fired his previous representation and replaced them with Klutch Sports, it felt imminent that he'd be moved to a new team willing to give him his desired four-year, $200 million extension. But, the landscape of the league made it unlikely that any high-profile names and big contracts would be dealt this year. The most recent report suggests that the Pelicans are still working to find a trade for Brandon Ingram, but one of the few suitors that made sense as a destination for him may have just dropped out of the sweepstakes.
Brandon Ingram's reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers might have been ruled out
One of the most proposed potential destinations for Ingram's next team was the Los Angeles Lakers. This hypothetical deal made sense for a few reasons. Firstly, they have the means to put together a sensible package for him. Equipped with plenty of midrange contracts in D'Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt, LA could easily match Ingram's $36 million figure, something a lot of other potential fits couldn't do.
The Lakers have also quietly rebuilt their cache of young players, with Reaves, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, and rookie Dalton Knecht all possibly appealing to teams looking to load up on promising talent.
Lastly, Los Angeles also has reason to add a player like Ingram. He'd be a natural third option behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two aging superstars who could still lead a title charge with the right team around them. His presence as another on-ball scorer, shot creator, and secondary playmaker could take the Lakers' roster over the hump.
Unfortunately, all of those points may be for naught, as it seems like LA's not interested in acquiring BI, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha:
"The Lakers are not anticipated to be heavily in the mix for Miami’s Jimmy Butler, New Orleans’Brandon Ingram or Chicago’s Zach LaVine."
This could simply be smoke or an encapsulation of their present mindset that could change as we approach the trade deadline. If this report holds true, though, finding a suitor for Brandon Ingram just became more difficult for Vice President David Griffin and the rest of the Pelicans' brass.