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Brandon Ingram, Pelicans Facing Make-or-Break Season

There are a few big issues the New Orleans Pelicans and Brandon Ingram have to figure out next season.

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New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS- Brandon Ingram was open and honest all season about the locker room's expectations for this season and the importance of his leadership. The seven-year NBA veteran is well past the 'just happy to be here' developmental stage of his career and was more vocal about precisely what this team needed to do in order to call the season a success in postgame press conferences.

Well, the New Orleans Pelicans fell short of those standards. Making the NBA Play-In Tournament felt like a far more significant accomplishment last season, especially considering the final scores. Now, this David Griffin-led front office and Brandon Ingram are facing a make-or-break season with the organization.

Brandon Ingram Zion Williamson

Ingram went second in the 2016 NBA Draft and worked his way into being named the league's Most Improved Player in 2020. The one-time All-Star (also 2020) is owed approximately $70 million over the next two seasons and then can leave as an unrestricted free agent. That presents a dilemma best confronted by the front office sooner rather than later. It is also a situation that could decide whether this front office gets contract extensions.

Griffin was hired four years ago (April 2019) and only has a few 'tweaks' left as the leading voice before a full re-evaluation is in order. The Anthony Davis and CJ McCollum deals along with winning the Zion Williamson lottery provided enough assets to build a current roster that most of the league would trade for according to Griffin during exit interviews. 

The team's foundation is set and the anchors are seemingly in place, but there are still reinforcement and finishing touches needed. All things considered, the 2023-24 campaign will be a reputational battle for both Ingram and the Griffin-led front office.

The only way to win the narrative wars is to win enough to get a top-6 seed next spring. Whatever happens over the next 82 games will arguably shape how the basketball world at-large perceives Ingram and Griffin's careers. Fair or not, the respect given to a one-time All-Star reserve with only two playoff game wins and an executive who won a single ring with Lebron James varies wildly.

David Griffin

Four Years In, Still Feeling Things Out

Griffin came into a championship ring thanks to his days with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He admitted that getting to build and grow a team organically was a requirement when taking the job, even turning down other opportunities in media markets that would have required more urgency in building a playoff roster.

Now that pressure is starting to build in New Orleans in large part due to the team's moves over the last four years, both on and off the court. First, the current Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations negotiated for more control and investment than former General Manager Dell Demps, who was fired in the middle of his ninth season.

The upgrades in staffing and resources created positions for Hall of Famer Swin Cash (Vice President of Basketball Operations and Team Development) and Aaron Nelson (Vice President of Player Care and Performance). Their entire list of renovation recommendations for the facility had been reviewed and approved with renovations underway within weeks. 

Griffin also hired Trajan Langdon away from an assistant GM job with the Brooklyn Nets to replace Demps in the lead GM role for the Pelicans. Bryson Graham (VP, Assistant GM), Sammy Gelfand (Senior Director, Basketball Analytics), and Michael Hartman (Senior Director, Basketball Analytics) helped fill out one of the NBA's smallest analytics departments.

This front office mapped out a long-term vision, hit on some high-ceiling draft picks, admitted a coaching mistake, and found some G-League gems. However, due to injuries are still feeling things out for what is needed to upgrade the roster to a championship-caliber contender.

“Have we seen enough to know unequivocally that it worked when we were No. 1 in the West? No. But we’ve seen enough to know we’re close. We’re in and around it. I think it’s tweaks more than its huge moves. But I also know we’re open-minded if something significant has to happen, ” Griffin explained days after being eliminated by Oklahoma City.

“I know we feel like the bones of this franchise are really sound,” he added. “What we do to get to the next level and make this exactly what we need to be, I can’t tell you right now."

The culture the front office and Willie Green's coaching staff churned up attracted veterans like CJ McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas, and Larry Nance Jr. However, good vibes and comradery can only carry a small-market franchise so far. Tough choices are just around the corner, especially if ownership is not keen to pay a big luxury tax bill for an underperforming, unhealthy squad.

Griffin got to navigate the Davis deal that brought back Ingram, who has played just 223 games over the past 4 seasons since moving to New Orleans. NBA's rosters are in a constant state of flux and loyalty only goes so far even for All-World talents. The team has to figure out what is working, and what might be the reasons to break things off if B.I. has to spend months on the bench once again next year.

It is all part of the process of feeling out how to make basketball a Big Thing in the Big Easy. Griffin and his wife Meridith spoke on that aspect of the job at length earlier this season. on the Between Bites podcast.

Granted, it would take an unprecedented, league-altering deal for a superstar to consider a deal but the Pelicans might have to look at trading Ingram if Griffin wants to be around for the entirety of Zion Williamson's new five-year contract. 

It's a crushing feeling to have to part with a player you have a connection with, but it's also part of the job. Every other team that has been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs is facing similar questions with their stars so it must be an option on the table.

Brandon Ingram

B.I. Inching Toward Peak Years, Yet Jury Still Out

The transition to professional basketball is tough for anyone but the then 18-year-old Ingram (2nd youngest drafted) handled the bright lights of Hollywood well while on the court. Ingram logged 79 games for the rebuilding Lakers and was named to the NBA All-Rookie second team.

That rookie campaign might have been his easiest year yet in some ways. Every year since has brought on new, unexpected challenges since beginning his career under head coach Luke Walton. Between Lebron James showing up in L.A., Zion Williamson getting drafted to Louisiana, a global COVID-19 pandemic, and a serious internal health scare, Ingram just has not had a settled environment to grow his game the past few years.

Ingram has played in 100 but missed 62 games over the past two regular seasons. The Duke alum appeared in a career-low 45 regular season contests this season, missing months with a toe contusion. In between stints with two teams, he has dealt with concussions, role readjustments around superstars, trade rumors, family relocation and expansion, a multitude of nagging injuries, and one very serious bout with deep vein thrombosis in his arm. 

It has been a battle for B.I. but a lifelong NBA dream has been achieved just by making it this far. Ingram secured a max contract and is just starting to enter his prime as a professional hooper yet there is still more to accomplish. This front office believes in Ingram to the point of not wanting to even engage in serious talks about acquiring Kevin Durant if Ingram was a requirement.

Brandon Ingram

The on-court measurables (height, length, speed, passing, defense, shooting) are practically off-the-chart elite. The off-court leadership intangibles are hard to ignore when listening to those in the building every day but there are knocks on Ingram's perception around the league.

Asking scouts and executives throughout the season provided one clear view. Everyone sees the potential and similarities with Kevin Durant. On occasion, the talent on display is undeniable but the quiet, passive nature and long stretches of being unavailable or inconsistent are the most prevalent concerns about Ingram's game.

Would those small slights and not fully informed insights by opposing front offices have any effect on value at all in the trade market though? Not much if at all. Could other players talk a front office into taking a chance on Ingram? Probably, especially certain stars with organizational pull.

Ingram does sport a spotty career CV. The soon to be 26 year old had a breakout performance in the first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns last season but it was Trey Murphy who bailed out the team in the 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament. Ingram also won the 2020 Most Improved Player award but has not gotten any respect from All-Star or All-NBA voters since.

That same MIP year (2020) was the only season Ingram received an All-Star Game nod. The former Duke Blue Devil has made just one All-Star game appearance and it came as a reserve. Like McCollum, who is widely regarded as the best player to never make an All-Star team, Ingram is sitting on an over $30 million contract.

Ingram is the only player from the 2020 All-Star Game to still be sitting on a single appearance in the event. Everyone else on that 2020 roster has made multiple All-Star teams. The last two Most Improved Player winners to not have All-Star Game honors are McCollum and Ryan Anderson. All other MIPs in the past 13 years besides Ingram, this year's winner Lauri Markkannen, and Goran Dragic have made multiple All-Star Games.

It's not quite a trend but it is concerning. Is it just a coincidence that New Orleans has to overpay for borderline All-Star talent? Ingram could quiet the doubters by opening up next season in the same flame-thrower fashion he ended this one. Ingram (107) was third in the NBA on pull-up field goals made, just behind Bridges (114) and Devin Booker (109). He just needs to stretch out the shot profile beyond the three-point arc more often.

Ingram came through in late-game situations by shooting 57% from the field, 50% from three-point range, and 100% from the free-throw line in the clutch (last five minutes) this year. He averaged 3.7 clutch points per game, good for 10th best. The seven-year vet also became a much-better playmaker as the lead ball handler, which garnered some attention going into the postseason. 

It's just too bad the sample size in games that matter remains so small. Ingram will also be an expiring contract next summer, and Griffin's deal will have run most of its course. Can New Orleans keep paying Ingram and McCollum All-NBA money for production short of All-Star game honors? If not, who is more likely to be used as a course-correcting trade asset?

Ingram is more talented on the court and a better fit with Zion Williamson. However, McCollum is still useful in New Orleans but would be worth far less since he is older and signed to a longer deal at about the cap hit as Ingram. 

How hard will the team fight to keep Ingram if pressed? Will the team be reluctant to field offers or will they actually look to upgrade to a perennial All-Star, All-NBA type of talent when they become available? 

It's a make-or-break year in many ways. If the team makes the wrong move, it could break up the culture completely and get the front office fired. A reluctance to make a move could be just as crippling if Ingram does not make an All-Star leap next season because he'd bring in even less in a trade next summer or demand an All-Star level max contract from New Orleans despite the same inconsistencies and perceptions around the league.

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