"It's going to end in a trade" - NBA insider breaks down Brandon Ingram's Klutch Sports signing ahead of 2025 Trade Deadline

NBA All-Star Brandon Ingram is slowly becoming a hot topic around the league. Amidst some trade rumors surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans forward, NBA Insider Shams Charania announced that Ingram signed with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports on Sunday.

Charania then followed up on this report by discussing the implications of this change of agency for Ingram. On Tuesday’s episode of NBA Today, Charania spoke with ESPN’s Malika Andrews about Ingram’s future.

This is what Charania shared regarding Ingram.

"His future is now coming into greater focus in the coming weeks," Charania said. "Essentially, where this is this going to go is it's going to end in a trade or an extension. In the offseason, the two sides were not able to come to an agreement. We will know in the coming months before the NBA Trade Deadline in February where this will go. It is expected that extension conversations will occur at some point as we get closer and into January." (0:11-0:44)

Brandon Ingram could become a free agent at the end of this season if he and the Pelicans can’t agree on an extension. Should they fail to come to an agreement, the Pelicans have until Feb. 6 to find a trade partner. That is the day of this season’s NBA trade deadline.

Any team that acquires Ingram will secure a prolific three-level scorer. Since the 2019-20 campaign, Ingram has averaged more than 20 points per game. Scoring isn’t the only aspect of his game, though.

Ingram also crashes the boards with regularity, averaging 5.5 boards and 5.2 assists in the same span.

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NBA fans react to the developing situation around Brandon Ingram

Brandon Ingram could become the top free agent once this summer concludes. However, the news that he joined Klutch Sports and the trade rumors that this has generated has caused a lot of buzz around him.

After signing with Rich Paul’s agency, several fans have weighed in on Ingram’s future. Some have lobbied for certain teams to trade for the All-Star forward.

"Can I interest you in the Golden State Warriors?" One fan asked.

"Pelinka needs to work his magic and bring Ingram back to LA to help Lebron get that 5th ring," one fan suggested.

"Ingram for Middleton, Portis and a 2nd of possible for the Bucks (might throw in a young dude too). I know Pelicans might get a better package than that but it's not THAT bad and they let their dude compete for a championship. I'm not sure if salaries work though," another fan chimed in.

Meanwhile, other fans shared their insights regarding Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans.

"Can he be part of a winning organisation taking a max contract though?" One person wondered.

"Hard to do when Brandon is on the team making big $$, playing 50 games, and ball stopping to get tough long twos," a fan chimed in.

"Many Players say this but then be like oh yea I also need the maximum salary when they really don’t deserve it and then it hurts the new team," one person said.