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Pelicans star Brandon Ingram proves he deserves $158 million supermax, sizzles against Heat with monster dunk

The former No 2 overall pick was actually a rising star in the Lakers camp who has now found a new home in New Orleans for the next five years

New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram should have been a Los Angeles Laker reckoned fans on Twitter after his monster dunk against the Miami Heat during the preseason game between the two teams on Monday, December 14.  At the time of writing, the Pelicans led 63-55 in the third quarter, and Ingram was looking impressive. You can watch the clip here:

Last month, Ingram inked a five-year deal with the Pelicans after an impressive 2019-20 season. The former No 2 overall pick was actually a rising star in the Lakers camp but has now found a new home in New Orleans. His rookie season in LA saw him average 9.4 points and four rebounds.

As far as the reactions for his dunk against the Heat were considered, stunned is an understatement. "If Brandon Ingram can harness his full potential he can be a top10 player in this league. KD-lite. #pelicans #nba," read one of the predictions. "Every Brandon Ingram highlight I get mad af my Lakers let him go.. we chose Kuzma's inconsistent, no defense playing a** over BRANDON INGRAM" read one of the tweets.

And comparisons to Anthony Bennet weren't far away either. "Brandon Ingram is just a skinny Anthony Bennett with long arms," read one of the tweets.

When he joined the Pelicans, Ingram quickly rose to the top in a relatively young squad. He led the Pelicans in scoring in his first year with the team as he averaged 23.8 points and was selected to his first All-Star team, and to top it all, he won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, according to Sportscasting. He agreed to a five-year, $158 million maximum contract extension according to an ESPN report.

And it does look like he's showing why he's worth the supermax contract. "Brandon Ingram easily about to average 26 coming off of screens from Steven Adams," one of the fans observed after watching his performance. "Why isn’t Brandon Ingram trending at #1. He killed a guy" asked one of the fans.

Going into the season, the mission is clear for the Pelicans as they look to compete for a playoff spot while Ingram will look to build on a productive 2019-20 season.