The New Orleans Pelicans made a major move this offseason to acquire guard Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade.
However, the Pels may not be done making moves.
According to The Athletic’s David Aldridge, New Orleans “presumably has more planned” when it comes to its roster this offseason after losing in the first round of the playoffs in four games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2023-24 season.
“The Pels still had some extra draft inventory from the Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis trades, so they used some of it to get Murray,” Aldridge wrote. “He should be a good addition, with positional size and a reasonable-for-today’s NBA contract through 2028. That times up well with [Zion] Williamson’s prime, along with Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones and [Jose] Alvarado. But New Orleans presumably has more planned to shake up its roster, as team president David Griffin made clear after another playoff flameout. Brandon Ingram hasn’t been moved as of this writing, and it’s getting late in the summer to do so, but he would be the one guy who could bring back significant pieces in return.”
Ingram is entering the final season of his contract with New Orleans, but the Pelicans may not have a suitor at the moment for the former All-Star.
Several teams that may have been in the market for Ingram – or a player that plays his position – already made moves.
The Sacramento Kings orchestrated a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan to pair him with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. The Philadelphia 76ers made a massive splash and signed nine-time All-Star wing Paul George to a max contract.
Not only that, but a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who could have considered trading for Ingram to pair alongside Donovan Mitchell, opted to extend players like Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley this offseason.
Allen would have made sense in an Ingram trade for the Pelicans since they lost center Jonas Valanciunas in free agency.
For now, it appears that New Orleans will enter training camp with Ingram on the roster, but that could change if there is an injury or a team that decides it would like to add the former lottery pick.
Ingram is a solid player, but teams may be scared away by his contract since he’s on an expiring deal. If a franchise doesn’t want to commit major money to Ingram for the long haul, it makes it hard to justify parting ways with valuable assets to acquire him for the 2024-25 season.
The Pelicans still have a hole at center, although they drafted big man Yves Missi in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
It will be interesting to see how Griffin continues to build this roster to avoid another playoff disappointment in New Orleans.
