Brandon Ingram lands on Eastern Conference lottery team alongside $224,237,860 star

The Brandon Ingram era in New Orleans has come to an end. On Wednesday, the Pelicans reportedly finalized a trade sending the former All-Star to the Toronto Raptors, where he will join another former All-Star, Scottie Barnes.

Ingram is an expiring asset in the final year of the five-year, $158,253,000 contract he signed in 2020-21. He will become an unrestricted free agent next year. He will team up with Barnes, who has a five-year, $224,237,860 contract set to kick in next season.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, in exchange for Ingram, the 12-36 Raptors, likely lottery-bound, sent Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olynyk, one first-round pick and one second-round pick.

Ingram will join a young and promising core in Toronto, which includes Barnes, RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley.

During his time with the Pelicans, Ingram helped lead the team to two playoff appearances — one in 2022 and another in 2024. However, the team largely underperformed during his tenure.

This season, the Pelicans faced significant injury issues, with Ingram, Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray and many other key players sidelined for stretches.

Brandon Ingram played in only 18 games this season, averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 46.5% shooting and 37.4% from 3-point range.

His final game with the Pelicans was in December, where he scored just five points in a 10-point loss to the OKC Thunder.

Pelicans end Brandon Ingram-Zion Williamson era

With this trade, the Pelicans are officially moving on from the era centered around Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.

Ingram was brought to New Orleans as the key piece in the trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Lakers. The Pelicans also had the first pick in the 2019 NBA draft, which they used to select Williamson.

However, the duo didn’t play together much. As noted by Underdog NBA on X (formerly Twitter), Ingram and Williamson played just 34.9% of the available games together (154 out of 441 games).

Even more troubling, the two never played in a playoff game together.

Currently, the Pelicans are struggling with a 12-39 record this season, following their loss to the Denver Nuggets.