The New Orleans Pelicans just completed an up and down season that left many fans feeling frustrated.
This is largely because the expectations for this young team were set way too high considering their experience and the fact that they had a new coach with very little offseason to prepare.
There were definitely some things that didn’t go well. The Eric Bledsoe experiment was a bit of a dud, though he did lead the team in minutes, something most fans wish wasn’t true.
We still have no idea what is going to happen with Lonzo Ball, whose inconsistency this season was really the hallmark of the team as a whole.
Much like Lonzo himself, the Pelicans would look spectacular one night only to look like a lottery team the next, which is what you would expect from a team whose best player is 20-years-old.
There were some bumps and challenges but this season was a success in several ways.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram’s quiet consistency
The Pelicans had a lot of drama this season, most of it centering around Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball, which made some people forget about Ingram.
There is a small but extremely vocal group of “fans” on Twitter who think Ingram is the reason the Pelicans weren’t good this season, but there isn’t much evidence to support that tinfoil hat theory.
Ingram is not the greatest defender in the world, something the Pelicans are going to have to deal with, but he is an elite scoring option, who showed his consistency this season.
Ingram improved or stayed the same in every offensive category except for slight dips in rebounding and 3-point percentage.
He once again averaged 23.8 points per game and his season was largely overlooked with all of the hype around Zion.
It’s easy to forget that Ingram is just 23-years-old and is already a 24 point per game scorer in this league who is going to get better.
He might not have gotten much attention, but Ingram’s consistency was one of the big success stories of the season.
New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson as point guard
One of the biggest revelations of the season was that Zion Williamson can be the primary ball handler who initiates the offense.
The Lonzo Stans would tell you that this development is why Lonzo didn’t blow up this season, but the truth is that the Pels’ offense really took off once Zion Williamson became the point guard.
The Pels had one or the best offenses in the NBA after this transition, which is something I don’t think the Pelicans were planning for in his first full season the league.
This is important for a number of reasons: the first is that Zion gives the Pelicans an advantage that few other teams have, which is that he can get to the rim whenever he wants and there is not much anyone can do to stop it. Every team that plays the Pels from now one will have to game plan around this anomaly, which gives them an advantage.
It’s also important that the Pels figured this out so early in his career, as they can now build their team around Point Zion and not Post Zion, which might change the type of players they pursue.
Had they known Zion Williamson was going to be this successful in this role, the Pelicans might had adjusted their draft, free agency and trade acquisitions last offseason, but that ship has sailed.
Moving forward, the New Orleans Pelicans should be able to target the types of players to add around Zion Williamson so that the Pels can be successful on both ends.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naji Marshall
Even though the New Orleans Pelicans didn’t meet all of their goals, they did get some nice progress out of three of their young players.
Jaxson Hayes emerged after being benched and played very well down the stretch, often looking like a future star. His shot blocking and defensive rotations improved this season and he looked more comfortable shooting the ball.
His play might have made Steven Adams expendable and Hayes could be the starter as soon as next season if he has a good offseason.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was in and out of the rotation due to inconsistent play and injuries but really looked like he was figuring it out in the second half. His injury was one of the biggest disappointments of the season, as the Pels would have had a better shot at the play-in tournament if he had been healthy.
But he averaged more than 20 points per game as a stater, improved his shot selection and stopped making as many bad mistakes. Is he is the starter next season? It’s very possible.
Naji Marshall came out of nowhere and got some minutes mostly because of injury. He made the most of them and now looks like a guy who could be the hustle/defense wing they’ve been needing.
His playmaking was also better than advertised, which was a bonus. Kira Lewis Jr. also got in on the action, though he still needs a lot more time, especially when it comes to shooting.
But he got plenty of run for a rookie point guard and showed some flashes, including the ability to protect the ball and limit turnovers.
It wasn’t the season the New Orleans Pelicans were hoping for but there was still a lot to be happy about.