NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Restricted free agent Brandon Ingram has agreed to a five-year, $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. Ingram's agents, Jeff Schwartz and Jordan Gertler of Excel Sports Management, confirmed the deal on Tuesday to The Associated Press. Ingram is the NBA’s reigning most improved player after averaging a team-high 23.8 points in his first season with the Pelicans. The 23-year-old Ingram, a 2016 second overall draft choice by the Los Angeles Lakers, was dealt to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason as part of a blockbuster trade that sent perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. New Orleans also received guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, as well as multiple draft picks in that deal. The 6-foot-7 Ingram this season developed into an effective and reliable scorer from the perimeter as well as on dribble drives. He shot a career best 39.1% from 3-point range but also routinely finished above the rim in the free-flowing, up-tempo offense the Pelicans ran... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Restricted free agent Brandon Ingram has agreed to a five-year, $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, said a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the contract, first reported by ESPN, has not been announced. Ingram is the NBA’s reigning most improved player after averaging a team-high 23.8 points in his first season with the Pelicans. The 23-year-old Ingram, a 2016 second overall draft choice by the Los Angeles Lakers, was dealt to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason as part of a blockbuster trade that sent perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. New Orleans also received guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, as well as multiple draft picks in that deal. The 6-foot-7 Ingram this season developed into an effective scorer from the perimeter as well as on dribble drives. He shot a career best 39.1% from 3-point range but also routinely finished above the rim in the free-flowing,... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Restricted free agent Brandon Ingram has agreed to a five-year, $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, said a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been ann Ingram is the NBA’s reigning most improved player after averaging a team-high 23.8 points in his first season with the Pelicans. The 23-year-old Ingram, a 2016 second overall draft choice by the Los Angeles Lakers, was dealt to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason as part of a blockbuster trade that sent perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. New Orleans also received guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, as well as multiple draft picks in that deal. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Restricted free agent Brandon Ingram has agreed to a five-year, $158 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, said a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been ann Ingram is the NBA’s reigning most improved player after averaging a team-high 23.8 points in his first season with the Pelicans. The 23-year-old Ingram, a 2016 second overall draft choice by the Los Angeles Lakers, was dealt to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason as part of a blockbuster trade that sent perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Lakers. New Orleans also received guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, as well as multiple draft picks in that deal. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Point guard Jrue Holiday is being traded from New Orleans to Milwaukee, which is aiming to give two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo the improved roster that he seeks with the decision on his supermax contract extension looming, a person with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday. The Pelicans are getting Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and a package of future first-round draft picks from the Bucks, the person told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no deal had been finalized. ESPN, The Athletic and The New York Times first reported details of the Holiday trade. ESPN also said the Bucks were executing a second trade with Sacramento, with Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin James going to Milwaukee for Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova. The trade of Holiday was the second blockbuster involving a point guard since the league allowed transactions to begin again Monday. Chris Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns by the Oklahoma City Thunder... [More]

Point guard Jrue Holiday is being traded from New Orleans to Milwaukee, which is aiming to give two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo the improved roster that he seeks with the decision on his supermax contract extension looming, a person with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday. The Pelicans are getting Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and a package of future first-round draft picks from the Bucks, the person told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no deal had been finalized. ESPN, The Athletic and The New York Times first reported details of the Holiday trade. ESPN also said the Bucks were executing a second trade with Sacramento, with Bogdan Bogdanovic and Justin James going to Milwaukee for Donte DiVincenzo, D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova. The trade of Holiday was the second blockbuster involving a point guard since the league allowed transactions to begin again Monday. Chris Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns by the Oklahoma City Thunder... [More]

Two people with knowledge of the situation say Stan Van Gundy has agreed to become the next coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, where he’ll get the chance to work with No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson. Van Gundy agreed to a four-year contract, according to one of the people who spoke Wednesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the hiring had not been announced. In New Orleans, Van Gundy will replace Alvin Gentry, who was let go after the Pelicans missed this season’s playoffs. Part of the problem for the Pelicans this season was that Williamson missed most of the season; he averaged 22.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 58% shooting, albeit in only 24 games. The Pelicans were 30-42 this past season. They have a promising young core with Williamson, Most Improved Player Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, plus currently hold four picks in this year’s draft. Van Gundy spent parts of 12 seasons coaching Miami, Orlando and Detroit, winning... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram has been named the NBA’s most improved player in a season that saw him bounce back from a life-altering blood clot and a trade from the team that drafted him second overall in 2016.Ingram, who came to New Orleans as part of a blockbuster trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged a team-leading and career-best 23.8 points per game while hitting 46.3% of his shots. He also became an NBA All-Star for the first time.“It goes back to last March, me getting injured, and not being able to be back on the court until September," Ingram said on a Zoom call Monday with TNT after being informed by his parents he had won the award. “That's very little time to start preseason and to start the regular season, but I was ready for it. Since Day 1 ... I just wanted to put in my work every single day and just get the best out of it."Ingram credited former Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry for his success, saying the coach who was fired on... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans are looking for a new coach to oversee the still nascent Zion Williamson era.The Pelicans fired 65-year-old coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.New Orleans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in its final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.But Griffin asserted during a video media conference that a coaching change might have been forthcoming even if New Orleans had rallied to capture one of the Western Conference's final playoff spots.“The wins and losses have very little to do with this," Griffin said. “This is really about the process. This is about the shared vision of how we’re going to go forward and what this looks like as we build.”While Griffin declined to answer specific questions... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.“These types of moves are often about fit and timing,” Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin said in announcing Gentry’s termination. “We believe now is the right time to make this change and bring in a new voice.”Gentry went 175-225 since his hiring by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, sweeping Portland in the first round before falling to eventual champion Golden... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup until the club was eliminated from playoff contention with two games to play.“These types of moves are often about fit and timing,” Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin said in announcing Gentry’s termination. “We believe now is the right time to make this change and bring in a new voice.”Gentry went 175-225 since his hiring by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, sweeping Portland in the first round before falling to eventual champion Golden... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday after the club missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.The Pelicans went 30-42 this season, finishing with just two victories in their final eight games despite the presence of top overall draft choice Zion Williamson and first-time All-Star Brandon Ingram in the lineup.Gentry was hired by former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps after the club fired Monte Williams following the 2014-15 season, when Anthony Davis was the face of the franchise.The Pelicans made the playoffs in Gentry's third season, but were derailed last season by a combination of injuries and Davis' trade demand, which precipitated Demps' firing. Gentry was retained even after Demps was replaced by current basketball operations chief David Griffin and the coach's contract was extended through the end of next season.But the Pelicans faltered once again this season, starting 6-22 and laboring through a franchise record 13-game... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zion Williamson’s rookie season is ending without a playoff berth.It’s not an uncommon stop on the NBA learning curve.Even for No. 1 draft picks, like Williamson was a year ago, winning takes time. The last player to go from being the top overall selection one year to a playoff-game starter the very next season was Derrick Rose — more than a decade ago. LeBron James needed three years to make the playoffs. John Wall needed four seasons. So did Kyrie Irving, his wait ending in large part because James returned to Cleveland.Williamson is about to learn what that process is like. The New Orleans Pelicans are out of playoff contention, something they pretty much knew was the case after a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon — and something that became mathematically certain that night, when Portland beat Philadelphia.“What I see is what everybody else on the planet sees: that he’s a hard-working, aggressive player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Williamson.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zion Williamson’s rookie season is ending without a playoff berth.It’s not an uncommon stop on the NBA learning curve.Even for No. 1 draft picks, like Williamson was a year ago, winning takes time. The last player to go from being the top overall selection one year to a playoff-game starter the very next season was Derrick Rose — more than a decade ago. LeBron James needed three years to make the playoffs. John Wall needed four seasons. So did Kyrie Irving, his wait ending in large part because James returned to Cleveland.Williamson is about to learn what that process is like. The New Orleans Pelicans are out of playoff contention, something they pretty much knew was the case after a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon — and something that became mathematically certain that night, when Portland beat Philadelphia.“What I see is what everybody else on the planet sees: that he’s a hard-working, aggressive player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Williamson.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The New Orleans Pelicans have scratched rookie Zion Williamson from the lineup for Friday night's game against the Washington Wizards.The team designated Friday a rest day for the NBA's top overall draft choice after he scored 24 points in 22 minutes in the Pelicans' 140-125 loss to Sacramento on Thursday.Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry noted that Williamson has not played games on consecutive days at all during his entire rookie season, “and that’s the same thing here.” "We just thought it would be best right now to do it this way, and we’ll evaluate tomorrow and see what’s going on,” Gentry added.The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Williamson has seen his playing time limited after missing nearly two weeks of practice in July to attend to a family medical matter.The former Duke star has played as few as 14 minutes and not more than 25 minutes in a game since the Pelicans resumed their season July 30. Williamson has averaged nearly 17 points and about 19 minutes in the Pelicans'... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Rudy Gobert sank two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to cap a 14-point, 12-rebound and three-block performance, giving the Utah Jazz a 106-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of the NBA's restart on Thursday night.New Orleans, which led for most of the game and by as many as 16 points, nearly pulled out the victory as time expired when Brandon Ingram's 3-point attempt rimmed out in a bitter end to his 23-point night.“He’s made a ton of big shots for us this year, but the bottom line is I don’t think it should have come down to that,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “We let a golden opportunity slip away.”Zion Williamson, who missed nearly two weeks of practice after leaving the team for a family medical matter on July 16, was deemed fit to start, although his playing time was limited.He scored 13 points in just more than 15 minutes, highlighted by a couple alley-oop dunks, one on a nearly half-court lob from Lonzo Ball.But Williamson... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Rudy Gobert sank two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to cap a 14-point, 12-rebound and three-block performance, giving the Utah Jazz a 106-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in the first game of the NBA's restart on Thursday night.New Orleans, which led for most of the game and by as many as 16 points, nearly pulled out the victory as time expired when Brandon Ingram's 3-point attempt rimmed out in a bitter end to his 23-point night.Zion Williamson, who missed nearly two weeks of practice after leaving the team for a family medical matter on July 16, was deemed fit to start, although his playing time was limited.He scored 13 points in just more than 15 minutes, highlighted by a couple alley-oop dunks, one on a nearly half-court lob from Lonzo Ball.But Williamson checked out for good with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter and had to watch the tense finish from the sideline.Jordan Clarkson scored 23 points for Utah and helped lead a second-half comeback,... [More]

After four months of waiting and planning, the NBA bubble is ready to be tested.The first six teams — Brooklyn, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix, Utah and Washington — are scheduled to arrive Tuesday at the Disney complex. Another eight teams arrive Wednesday, the last eight arrive Thursday, and with that training camps will be on the cusp of beginning.If the plan works, all teams will be at Disney for at least 5-1/2 weeks and some teams will be there for more than three months. And not everyone in the league has an abundance of optimism that the experiment — involving daily testing, separation from friends and family for weeks if not months, and strict regulations regarding just about everything imaginable at Disney — will be enough to complete the season.“I’m not very confident,” New Orleans guard Brandon Ingram said. “But they’ve got us going ... so we’ll see.”The process for arrivals will be streamlined — players and team staff will be immediately taken to the testing room at their Disney hotel... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson credits his mother’s wisdom with helping him manage life’s unanticipated twists and inevitable assortment of successes and setbacks.It has served the NBA’s top overall draft choice well during a highly unusual debut season that has gone nothing like he imagined, yet still holds plenty of promise.“The last 12 months have been a different experience,” Williamson said Thursday, projecting his typically affable, smiling, easy-going manner during a video conference at the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice headquarters. “My mom tells me, ‘Life is life. You may go through a lot of bad times. You may go through a lot of good times. It’s just: Try to prepare yourself as best as you can.’”Now Williamson and the Pelicans are preparing to make a “playoff push,” something that appeared highly unlikely when he was sitting on the sidelines with a surgically repaired knee, watching New Orleans labor through a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak that left... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson credits his mother’s wisdom with helping him manage life’s unanticipated twists and inevitable assortment of successes and setbacks.It has served the NBA’s top overall draft choice well during a highly unusual debut season that has gone nothing like he imagined, yet still holds plenty of promise.“The last 12 months have been a different experience,” Williamson said Thursday, projecting his typically affable, smiling, easy-going manner during a video conference at the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice headquarters. “My mom tells me, ‘Life is life. You may go through a lot of bad times. You may go through a lot of good times. It’s just: Try to prepare yourself as best as you can.’”Now Williamson and the Pelicans are preparing to make a “playoff push,” something that appeared highly unlikely when he was sitting on the sidelines with a surgically repaired knee, watching New Orleans labor through a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak that left... [More]