NBA Trade Rumors: $36,016,200 Pelicans forward eyeing Eastern Conference switch ahead of trade deadline

According to Marc Stein on Wednesday's edition of "The Stein Line," the Toronto Raptors are interested in one of the New Orleans Pelicans' All-Star caliber talents. That player is Brandon Ingram, who earned his first and only All-Star selection during his first season in New Orleans in 2020.

Stein wrote that there is some interest in acquiring Ingram on the Raptors' part. The Raptors' interest in acquiring him is the first major development regarding Ingram after it was rumored that he was on the trading block earlier this season.

Brandon Ingram is set to become a free agent this summer and is owed $36,016,200 this season. It is the final year of a five-year max extension worth $158 million that he signed in 2020.

The Pelicans are likely looking to unload his contract while they can get something in return for him, lest he walks away in free agency. Initially, New Orleans' front office and Ingram tried to reach a deal on an extension. However, Brian Windhorst reported that the two sides could not agree on a deal.

Since then, the rumor mill regarding Ingram has remained mostly quiet as Jimmy Butler has taken center stage in this department.

---

Despite his injury woes Brandon Ingram's offensive production has been among the best among Pelicans players

When the New Orleans Pelicans traded for Dejounte Murray, they likely had lofty expectations for their position at this point in the season. However, those expectations are far from being met.

They are only half a game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the bottom spot in the Western Conference with a 12-35 record. A major reason for their struggles as a team is the amount of games that their best players have missed collectively.

Trey Murphy III has played in only 31 games, CJ McCollum has played 34, Zion Williamson has been limited to 12, Dejounte Murray to 29, and Brandon Ingram has only played in 18.

Despite seeing limited action, Ingram is still an attractive trade target for teams that want to add instant offense to their roster. In the 18 games he's played, Ingram has averaged 22.2 points on shooting splits of 46.5/37.4/85.5%. This makes him the second-best scorer on the team, behind Williamson's 23.2 points per game.

Ingram has also been averaging 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per contest which are eerily similar to his stats from the last three seasons.

In fact, Brandon Ingram's production has been mostly the same since his All-Star season where he put up 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game in 2019-20. The season after that, he averaged the same amount of points while contributing nearly five assists and rebounds.

His points per game have never dipped too far from 23.8 and he even had one season where he averaged higher. He had 22.7 points per game in 2021-22, 24.7 the next season, and 20.8 last year.