Coming into the 2024-25 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans had two clear goals in mind. First, they wanted to make the playoffs with a healthy Zion Williamson for the first time since drafting the All-Star out of Duke University. New Orleans has made its way into the postseason a couple of times since acquiring Big Z, but he's yet to make his NBA playoff debut due to health.
After getting the healthiest season of his career from Williamson last year and trading for All-Star point Dejounte Murray in the summer, the Pelicans felt they finally had a great chance to make some real noise in the playoffs. Their second goal tied in with their playoff hopes.
Not only did New Orleans already have a strong roster on paper, they also had a huge trade chip to address any weaknesses that might have revealed themselves through the early season: Brandon Ingram. After BI and the team failed to agree on a contract extension over the summer, it seemed inevitable that he'd be traded before the deadline. While that's still certainly a possibility, envisioning a future in which Ingram is still in New Orleans for the 2025-26 season is getting easier by the day, for these two reasons in particular.
Why the Pelicans might not trade Brandon Ingram before the 2025 NBA trade deadline
1. Weak Trade Market
Frankly, teams just aren't lining up to give up valuable assets in order to acquire a ball-dominant, one-dimensional borderline All-Star on an expiring contract seeking a $200 million extension. For the same reasons that the Pelicans are looking to get rid of him, Brandon Ingram isn't a super-desirable piece.
He's most effective with the ball in his hands but isn't an effective enough engine to command the amount of touches and control he needs to maximize his potential. There are only a handful of teams out there who could justify trading for him this season, and it's still a stretch for most of them, enough of a stretch to make their front offices hesitant to give up real assets in order to acquire him.
There's still hope. It's been reported that Ingram does have some interest out there, with many of his suitors being the same franchises that were interested in dealing for the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler. Now that it's no longer a given that Butler will be traded this season, Ingram could be the top openly available player at the deadline, but that might still not lead to an offer enticing enough for the Pelicans to pull the trigger.
2. Pelicans can still deal him later on
It felt inevitable that Ingram would be traded this season, because it felt like the Pelicans had no other choice. Without an extension, BI is slated for unrestricted free agency this summer which would put New Orleans at risk of losing him for nothing in the offseason. However, that's not as pressing a concern as it initially appeared.
Ingram was seeking a four-year, $200 million max deal that the Pelicans have been unwilling to meet. He's extremely unlikely to get that offer from any other team either. The only organization expected to have the cap space necessary to give him that deal this summer is the Brooklyn Nets. Spotrac estimates that they'll have over $90 million to spend this offseason. No other team is expected to have more than $40 million in cap space.
The Washington Wizards should have the second-most available money at around $40 million, and there's a steep drop after them. In reality, Ingram's best chance at a good contract is still with the Pelicans, who could either sign and trade him to another team or give him a short-term extension and find a deal for him later on.
Jake Fischer outlined this for The Stein Line:
"[The Pelicans] see it like Miami sees it with Butler: Ingram will almost certainly need the Pels' help to facilitate a sign-and-trade to secure the sort of contract he wants. Perhaps that positions New Orleans to receive greater compensation for Ingram than what's been available during this ongoing Trade Season."