New Orleans Pelicans: 5 reasons for optimism in the new year

The New Orleans Pelicans would love to have 2021 erased from their collective memory.

They missed the playoffs once again, had an offseason where they gave up Lonzo Ball for practically nothing and have a had a nightmare start to the 2021-22 season which saw them lose Zion Williamson to injury.

Brandon Ingram has had poor injury luck as well, so the Pelicans enter 2022 with their cornerstone players on the sidelines and there isn’t a whole lot to be happy about at the moment.

If you only looked at the numbers and don’t watch the games (like all national media when it comes to the Pelicans), you would think they were going nowhere fast and that this is another lost season for a team that had playoff hopes.

However, if you have been paying attention, then you know that things could be much worse, and that even though the Pelicans are down bad right now, there are reasons to be optimistic.

5 reasons to be optimistic about the New Orleans Pelicans

The Pels are in next to last place in the Western Conference, but are still just 1.5 games out of the play-in, so even though almost everything has gone wrong, they could still find themselves in the play-in tournament this season, which would be a massive accomplishment considering what they’ve been up against. But that is not the only reason to be hopeful.

Brandon Ingram is a leader

B.I. is a quiet dude who is probably never going to be a Chris Paul-type of vocal leader, but he has let his play do the talking. He has carried the Pelicans to a winning record in the games he’s appeared in, improved his defense and cut down some of the things that occasionally made him frustrating to watch, namely holding the ball too much on offense and playing too much isolation.

Ingram’s numbers aren’t much different but the eye test shows a guy who has made another small leap as a player, and the stretch after he returned from his first injury might have been the best of his career overall.