Insider reveals which wing the Jazz wanted over Brandon Ingram

There has been a lot of excitement surrounding the Utah Jazz and their offseason pursuit of Brandon Ingram. It recently emerged that Ingram had turned down the Jazz because he didn’t want to commit to them long-term. However, there seems to be more to it than that.

NBA insider Jake Fischer confirmed the Jazz’s interest in Marc Stein’s substack, but added that the Jazz had someone else in mind.

“There have been some preliminary discussions with Utah, sources said, as the Jazz often tend to show exploratory interest when a top player becomes available. But Utah never engaged in meaningful trade discussions for Ingram, sources said. I heard it described by multiple sources with knowledge of the situation that Utah’s trade effort to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn was a far more substantial undertaking than anything involving Ingram.

Although Ingram has been linked to the Jazz, they have also been linked to Bridges before, so this news isn’t all that shocking. Bridges was sent to New York instead and didn’t exactly prove that the Knicks were right to give up the package they made for him.

Ingram probably would have been cheaper since his contract is expiring, and the Jazz could have taken him to another level.

As long as it didn’t cost them much, taking a flyer about Ingram wouldn’t have been much of a problem. However, the takeover would have come with some questions, most notably: what would be the long-term plan for him?

Ingram and the Pelicans are currently at an impasse because he wants an expensive new contract, and the Pelicans are hesitant to give it to him because even though he has proven his talent, it hasn’t done all that much for New Orleans.

The Jazz would have dealt with that issue and more, as they don’t really plan on winning that much right now, even with Lauri Markkanen on the team.

Bridges is an above-average two-way winger but is unlikely to make an All-Star team over the course of his NBA career. Ingram has made one All-Star team and is capable of making another, but that brings with it another red flag: He’s an injury risk.

This all probably plays a role in why the Jazz entertained this to some degree but never really considered it. Ingram is a good player who could be crucial to a playoff team, but that was only on paper. Granted, one could argue that this is also the case with Markkanen, who never made the playoffs, but the Jazz are right not to invest in anything too substantial given the position they’re at.