NBA News: Brandon Ingram Reportedly Traded to Raptors; Pelicans Get Bruce Brown, More

After spending five-plus seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Brandon Ingram is reportedly being traded to the Toronto Raptors.

Shams Charania of ESPN reported the deal, with the Pelicans getting back Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk and draft picks:

Rumblings about Ingram’s future in New Orleans really picked up after the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He didn’t play well in the series, averaging 14.3 points on 34.5 percent shooting in the four-game sweep.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted the Pelicans either had to trim their roster or let key free agents like Naji Marshall and Jonas Valančiūnas leave.

Marks also pointed out Ingram was eligible to sign a four-year, $208 million extension on the first day of free agency. His statistical performance would largely warrant that type of deal. He’s averaged at least 20 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in each of his five seasons with the Pelicans.

But the combination of Ingram’s playoff struggles, injury history and New Orleans’ cap situation left his status up in the air. The 26-year-old hasn’t played more than 64 games in a season since his rookie year in 2016-17.

The Pelicans already have Zion Williamson, whose injury history is well-documented, under contract for $163.2 million over the next four years.

New Orleans has been on the fringes of being a very good team if its best players could stay healthy. It has had top-10 net ratings in each of the past two seasons, including a plus-4.5 mark in 2023-24 that ranked 10th in the NBA.

Since having healthy players has been a huge problem for the Pelicans this season, they have bottomed out to this point. They have the worst record in the Western Conference (12-39).

Given where the Pelicans are at now and with no obvious franchise cornerstone to build around, trading away any players who have value is smart business for the front office.

Ingram is an interesting addition to a younger Raptors team that is clearly building around players like Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick and Ja’Kobe Walter, among others. Ingram isn’t on that same timeline and was expected to go to a team looking to contend right now, rather than the retooling Raptors, which are just 16-35.

So there will be obvious questions about which direction the Raptors are now taking. Do they see a future building around the young core? Or do they simply see many of those players as potential trade chips down the line for more established stars?

Barnes isn’t going anywhere, and it’s hard to imagine the Raptors acquired Ingram only to lose him in free agency this summer, so he’s a safe bet to stick around as well. But Wednesday’s trade called into question what the future might hold for some of the team’s other young contributors.