New Orleans Pelicans: Predicting season stats for the small forwards

The New Orleans Pelicans will have a lot of new faces next season but the small forward position will remain mostly the same.

Unlike the guards, there will be continuity with the wings, as Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart will still be getting most of the minutes.

The Pels will need both of them to play better if they want to make a leap as a team, though each has a different area of weakness.

Brandon Ingram will need to improve his defense, as he is already an elite offensive player but still struggles to get stops.

Josh Hart is the opposite, as he is already a good defender and rebounder but needs to shoot the ball more consistently. If he does, Hart could earn the starting role and his deal will look like a steal for the Pelicans.

The Pels also have two newcomers in Didi Louzada and Herbert Jones who will both try to claw their way into the rotation by playing defense.

Let’s take a look at some season predictions for their stats.

New Orleans Pelicans: Season stat predictions for the small forwards

Herbert Jones

Last season: 11.2 points, 3.3 assists and 6.6 rebounds

Next season: 6 points, 1.5 assists and 4 rebounds

My prediction for Herb Jones is that he starts the season outside of the rotation but eventually plays his way in.

Jones is a disruptive defender and could be part of a Pels’ bench unit that figures to be much improved defensively.

The real stats we should look at with Jones are steals, deflections and blocks, as most of the impact he makes will be on the defensive end.

Didi Louzada

Last season: N/A (he only played 3 games)

Next season: 3 points, 1 assist and 2.5 rebonds

I’m going to be honest, I don’t expect big things out of Didi Louzada next season but I hope I am wrong.

I can’t really see him being part of the rotation, at least early on, as the Pels have other players in Trey Murphy III and Naji Marshall who are going to be have larger roles and are ahead of him on the depth chart.

I could see either Herbert Jones or even two-way player Daulton Hommes beating out Louzada for minutes, as he is still very raw offensively and didn’t play well in Summer League.

Josh Hart

Last season: 9.2 points, 2.3 assists and 8.0 rebounds

Next season: 14 points, 2.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds

I think Josh Hart is one of the players on the New Orleans Pelicans who is poised to have a breakout season.

Hart is going to spend the offseason working on his 3-point shot and I expect him to be closer to the 39 percent he was in his rookie season than to the 32 percent he was last season.

He is going to get good looks just like he did last year and Hart needs to knock them down, as improvement from he and NAW is probably the biggest factor in the Pels’ potential this season.

Hart has to play more like a 6th man of the year and not just a guy who is good at rebounding. I expect him to have an easier defensive role this season, as the Pels aren’t going to be asking him to guard up as much and for that to translate into better offense.

Brandon Ingram

Last season: 23.8 points, 4.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds

Next season: 25 points, 6.1 assists and 6.5 rebounds

I wrote more in depth about Brandon Ingram here, but I do think his stats could go either way. I the Pels will have more ball movement and better offensive versatility in general, which could lead to the points and assists being spread more evenly.

If so, Ingram’s stats could go down, but I predict that increased ball movement will be good for him, that Ingram will get more catch-and-shoot 3-point shots and that he’ll hit over 40 percent of them which will  bump up his points.

I think he’s going to get more chances to make plays with the ball which will lead to an uptick in assists, as I don’t think Willie Green is going to go exclusively with Zion Williamson running the point and handling the ball on every single play as he did under Stan Van Gundy.

Ingram has been remarkably consistent over the last two seasons, and the New Orleans Pelicans need him to improve on the defensive end more than anything, as they can count on him being at or near 25 points per game.