New Orleans Pelicans: The good, bad and very ugly from preseason
New Orleans Pelicans: Injuries and Trick-or-Treat NAW
Obviously the worst part of the preseason was that Zion Williamson didn’t play, while Brandon Ingram and Jaxson Hayes only played one game each.
Ingram should be fine and was just being held out for precautionary reasons, but both Zion and Hayes could end up missing the beginning of the regular season with their injuries and if I had to bet, I’d say they will.
light. Related Story. We are starting to see why the Pels didn't want to pay Lonzo Ball
This is not only bad from an injury and depth standpoint, but as a young team with a new coach, these guys need as much time together as possible and they haven’t had any yet. The Pelicans are likely to start the season shorthanded and even when Zion and Hayes return they will need time to get back into the flow
The Pelicans need to get out to a fast start with a schedule that gets tougher later in the season, and this isn’t going to help.
Another bad part of the preseason was seeing Trick-or-Treat Nickeil Alexander-Walker make an appearance. After playing great in the first two games, NAW disappeared in the next two and put up stinkers.
It’s preseason, so you expect some rust, but this has been a recurring theme with NAW so far in his short career. He will look like an All-Star one minute and like a guy who can’t hit a shot the next.
We saw both in the preseason, but let’s hope the first guy is the one we get more often once the games get real. Getting Zion and Ingram back will help.
I still think NAW is primed to have a breakout season and can’t wait to watch him have it.