On May 17, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs are underway, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers' first priority is to renew Mitchell's contract ahead of schedule, and has not given up the idea of letting him partner Garland, Kyrie Irving revealed that he is proud of Jones Jr.'s performance, and one of our strengths is the depth of the roster. Just now, for four years and $208 million, the New Orleans Pelicans' first tradeable player was officially released, Brandon Ingram is not suitable to team up with Zion Williamson, and the team's general manager Griffin prefers to renew Murphy's contract, so the former's departure is a foregone conclusion.
According to the latest report from Will Guillory, the New Orleans Pelicans, who own McCollum and Zion Williamson, are considering one thing that team management is considering is to extend Murphy's contract early, and general manager Griffin will offer the former a contract worth more than $100 million to keep him and continue to partner with the two stars. It is important to emphasize that Brandon Ingram, who is also eligible for an early contract extension, has a chance to sign a four-year, $208 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, and it is difficult for him to realize this wish, and the team has decided to explore the market to trade the former in the offseason.
It is worth mentioning that the New Orleans Pelicans chose to forgo the extension of Brandon Ingram for the following two reasons. First of all, in the first round of the playoffs, Ingram performed a little badly, and even quarreled directly with head coach Willie Green in the locker room, thinking that the latter gave him too little ball, which affected his performance on the court. Secondly, the second is that Ingram and Zion Williamson are both guys who need the ball, playing together for five seasons, and not achieving a good run-in effect, and being on the floor at the same time cannot help the two sides open up space, rather than continuing like this, it is better to break up.
You must know that in the 2023-2024 season with the New Orleans Pelicans, Brandon Ingram played a total of 64 regular season games, averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, and played four games in the playoffs, averaging 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. On the other hand, Murphy played a total of 57 games in the regular season, averaging 14.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, and played 4 games in the playoffs, averaging 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Now, with the New Orleans Pelicans swept in the first round and missing the championship this season, general manager Griffin learned from the pain and chose to continue to build a team around Zion Williamson, so the team management will renew Murphy's contract early, leaving the former's contract inexpensive. It should be noted that Brandon Ingram is eligible to ask for a four-year, $208 million max contract this summer, and after evaluation, the New Orleans Pelicans will explore the market to trade the former, mainly because his partnership with Zion Williamson has not worked well and is not as good as the team expected.