Pelicans: How serious is Brandon Ingram’s finger injury?

Brandon Ingram stepped up last season for the New Orleans Pelicans, improving his defense and playmaking while taking over as the team leader.

He averaged 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists and took his game to another level in the playoffs, averaging 27/6/5 in the first-round loss to the Suns.

Ingram put the league on notice that he is superstar in the making, though he didn’t make the All-Star team or All-NBA, putting him in the running for most underrated player in the NBA.

The only real problem with his season was that he only played 55 games after suffering a couple of nagging injuries that kept him out for extended periods.

This is somewhat concerning, as Ingram has only played more than 70 games once in his career, and that was during his rookie season. Since then, he has played 59, 52, 62, 61 and 55 games. None of these injuries were very serious or chronic, so I wouldn’t call Ingram “injury prone” but it would be nice to see him put together a season where he didn’t miss big chunks of the schedule.

That concern wasn’t helped by a report that Ingram had an offseason surgery on his finger that will put some of his offseason in jeopardy.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram’s finger surgery

Ingram had surgery on his right pinkie finger to fix a flexion contracture according to the Pelicans.

It’s possible that he suffered this injury in the playoff series against the Suns, though he was able to play though it at the time.

The procedure is not considered too serious, but it will keep Ingram out for up to eight weeks, which is a big chunk of the offseason. It’s also somewhat concerning that this injury is on his shooting hand, as it means that Ingram won’t be able to get shots up for the next two months.

I’m sure he’ll still be working out and doing what he can, as last season Ingram spent a good amount of time in the weight room working on building strength, but even that is going to limited if he can’t use his right hand.

This is nothing to get worried or excited about yet, but it is something to monitor, as the New Orleans Pelicans are desperate to start next season at full strength with all of their stars at 100 percent after going through a roller coaster year with injuries.