Brandon Ingram becoming as crucial to Pelicans as Zion

Brandon Ingram is the most important player on the floor for the New Orleans Pelicans to start the season and that could remain the truth through the season.

While the start of the 2019-2020 NBA season is off to a 1-5 start in for the New Orleans Pelicans, one of their young players is shining above the rest. Early in the season, Brandon Ingram seems on the path to stardom at the professional level.

As a member of the Pelicans, Ingram has quickly found a role as the marquee option for the team still awaiting the return of Zion Williamson.

Through six games, Ingram is averaging 23.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and is shooting 51.5% from the field, all while posting a 25.0 player efficiency rating.

It hasn’t been as easy for the Pelicans as it has been for Ingram. He’s made easy work of last year’s Western Conference playoff defenses over and over again, slicing through them like a hot knife through butter.

Ingram hasn’t just been the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans, he’s been by far the most important to their offense.

Perhaps exemplified best in yesterday, the Pelicans fell apart when Ingram checked out in the second quarter after taking a bump to the head.

Without Ingram on the floor against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans allowed Dennis Schröder to take advantage of their sloppy mistakes to end the first half. Then, the team played a stagnant, sluggish style of offense in the second half where they trailed the Thunder for a majority of the final two frames.

In the game, Ingram played just 13 minutes, but had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and was shooting 3-of-5 from the field. He was also +4 and was absorbing plenty of defensive attention.

The team is -15.2 with Ingram off the floor but is averaging a career-low in minutes-per-game thus far, playing around 30.8 for Alvin Gentry.

Starting the first year with a new team, showing out incredibly through six games, Brandon Ingram looks like a guy who the Pelicans should’ve given a max-level rookie scale contract on extension day.

It’s hard to look at the start to this season and not notice some slippage from Jrue Holiday, who the team was counting on to make an MVP-type climb after moving Anthony Davis. Meanwhile, Ingram continues to show more to prove he’s headed for the Most Improved Player and All-NBA level.

Ingram has long been a breakout candidate and though he’s put together fairly good seasons the last two years with the Los Angeles Lakers, he looks like a different player in a new situation.

Clearly, Ingram is playing with a new-found confidence in New Orleans, which has been reflected in his conversations with media members. Talking Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Ingram opened up about the warmth he’s felt in the new situation, noting his joy in returning to the south.

"“People get caught up about thinking outside of basketball and what comes with it. L.A. wasn’t too fast for me. But we, the team, got caught up with all the extras that come with outside of basketball,” Brandon Ingram said in an interview with The Undefeated."

After LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers bunch came into the picture, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense for a guy who both wants and deserves the ball in Ingram to stay in town.

Now, he’s in a situation in New Orleans where he can play to his strengths, without a LeBron James on the roster to absorb his natural role.

The glaring piece also missing from this New Orleans Pelicans start is the arrival of Zion Williamson. With the knee injury holding him out a few more weeks, the Pelicans are at a loss for the scoring machine they watched during the preseason.

The co-stardom of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson could be deadly in the Western Conference, even if Ingram is the New Orleans Pelicans’ primary option.

When Zion returns, the New Orleans Pelicans are going to be different, primarily because they’ll have someone who can both take on and destroy a double team. He’s going to open up this team in so many different ways, especially in the shot-creation department.

Sitting courtside for every game while he recovers from his knee injury, Zion has been just as excited about the start from Ingram as everyone else, if not a little more.

The interplay between Zion and Ingram projects as nothing short of fascinating.

Both are incredibly unique scorers. Ingram is lanky and long, giving him the ability to rise-and-pop from anywhere on the court. Williamson is a behemoth who moves like a NASCAR across the court, making him terrifying to halt in transition.

According to Basketball-Reference, Brandon Ingram has spent 84% of the season playing power forward, while he’s spent 9% at the small and another 7% of his time at center. In 190 games with the Lakers, Ingram player 73% of his minutes at the small forward, never checking in at center.

When Zion returns to the floor, Ingram will likely return to his natural small forward in starting lineups. However,  what we saw in the preseason was Alvin Gentry trusting Zion to run the paint with Ingram acting as a perimeter-roving four-position forward.

Zion absorbing attention will yield big returns for Ingram, just as it did during the preseason. Both incredibly crafty playmakers, Ingram can hang in the corner for open threes while his bigger defender tries to chase help defense as Zion works a slow-footed interior protector.

Not to mention Ingram’s own ability to draw attention both on the perimeter and driving to the rim, making for interesting pick-and-roll, in addition to pick-and-pop opportunities between the pair.

Ingram is shooting 50% from three to start the season, greatly improved in both stroke and quality of looks from his 33% rate during the 2018-2019 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Zion’s ability to dish him threes could do some incredible things for his scoring numbers.

Together, the New Orleans Pelicans might find they have the best young duo in the league, with Ingram still being three years to rent a car and Zion two years away from being able to legally sip his first adult beverage.

While the team awaits the pairing of the duo, Brandon Ingram has the chance to keep proving he’s an elite player in this league. However, when paired with Zion Williamson, the pair could cause a ton of damage in the Western Conference playoffs.