In a year without many positives in New Orleans, Brandon Ingram has been the brightest light. After multiple injury-riddled seasons in Los Angeles, Ingram has flourished in his new role on a new team. The performance could hardly have come at a better time as the forward is set for restricted free agency this summer.
While one could hardly fault the Pelicans for not offering an extension to Ingram this summer given his injuries in the past, he’s now set for a big payday this upcoming summer as a result of his play. On Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast released on Friday, the ESPN analyst noted of rumors that have begun floating around suggesting New Orleans intends to hang onto Ingram.
Brian Windhorst: I mean, Brandon Ingram has been nothing but ‘score on bad teams’ for his whole career.’
Tim McMahon: He’s scoring a lot on a bad team now.
Windhorst: Well the word out there is that the Pelicans are going to be giving Brandon Ingram a huge contract in the offseason.
This season, Ingram is averaging 25.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from beyond the arc and 84.2 percent from the free throw line. Across the board, it’s a career-best season despite him playing an almost identical number of minutes per game as his previous two seasons.
On top of being healthy, Ingram also has the ball more than he has in previous season, sporting a career-high usage rate of 29.4 percent. Prior to this season, his highest usage rate was 23.2 percent last season with the Lakers.
If Ingram continues to play at this level, flirting with a 50/40/90 season while averaging over 25 points per game, he may very well earn himself a maximum contract extension, something once likely considered a longshot for the former Duke product.
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