7 New Orleans Pelicans who could win an award in 2023-24
By Mat Issa
4. Brandon Ingram – All-NBA Team
Brandon Ingram hasn’t been an All-Star since his first season in New Orleans (way back in 2019-20). However, when Williamson went down in January, Ingram absolutely tore it up after returning from his own toe injury.
In his final 30 games of the year (all without Williamson), Ingram averaged 26.7 PPG, 6.4 APG, and 5.7 RPG on 58% True Shooting (TS). He also earned himself a Western Conference Player of the Week award after a monster three-game stretch in late March.
For comparison, last year, Julius Randle averaged 25.1 PPG, 4.1 APG, and 8.1 RPG on 58.1% TS en route to an All-NBA Third Team nomination. There’s more to basketball than just those four statistics. But still, those numbers are pretty darn similar.
Yes, Randle does have the good ole’ New York Knicks bias working in his favor. Meanwhile, Ingram is balling out under the radar in a small market like New Orleans.
But even then, if Ingram can keep the same pace he ended last year with, improve his off-ball game and the speed of his decision-making, and guide the Pelicans to their first 50-win season since 2007-08, he’ll have a real shot at making his first ever All-NBA team.