On the opening play of the second half of last night’s New Orleans Pelicans vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game, Brandon Ingram landed on Lu Dort’s foot coming down from a jump shot. Ingram rolled his ankle and needed help to the locker room. Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Ingram has been diagnosed with a significant low left ankle sprain and will be sidelined indefinitely.
This is a brutal break for both Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans. The All-Star forward is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game on the season across the 18 games he has played.
Ingram has also been a frequent name in trade conversations and extension talks as he is in the final year of his current contract. He recently made a change in representation, joining Klutch Sports, with this expected to accelerate getting him to his desired location or financial number. Being off the floor is the last thing Ingram needs and he will now have to focus on recovering from his ankle injury. This is especially poor timing when considering it is one week away from the December 15th deadline, which unofficially starts the NBA trade period as players signed this offseason are eligible to be moved.
This is also another brutal break for the Pelicans, who have been at the forefront of the injury issues across the NBA this season. Ingram will join Zion Williamson on the injury report, who has no clear return date as he recovers from his hamstring issue. Jose Alvarado and Jordan Hawkins each also remain sidelined with injuries while CJ McCollum recently returned from injury issues himself.
The brutal reality that this will be a wasted season may be setting in for New Orleans as it sits in 15th place in the Western Conference with a 5-19 record. There will be some difficult questions to answer regarding the future of the team moving forward, but for the time being Ingram and the Pelicans will be focused on getting him back on the floor as soon as possible.
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