Opening night provides clear reason why the Pelicans kept Brandon Ingram

There's been a lot of one-sided talk surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans heading into the 2024-25 NBA season. Virtually no one outside of the fandom believes that they have any chance to contend for the title. Some of the more audacious pundits have even doubted their chances to make the playoffs.

There have been countless dissections of the Pelicans roster from analysts. The two main points of concern were their center rotation and the redundancy between their top players in Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and newly acquired All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. It's not these weren't valid critiques; it's that they were massively overstated.

Many, myself included, have suggested that New Orleans trade Brandon Ingram and get a starting-caliber center in return, effectively killing two birds with one stone. The logic behind that sentiment is sound. Ingram will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end unless the Pelicans can sign him to an extension, the Pelicans have plenty of on-ball scoring, and they do have some significant weaknesses that could be filled by trading him away. There's been plenty of arguments made for dealing away Brandon Ingram, but he showed in the season opener exactly why New Orleans has kept him around thus far and why they might want to retain him long-term.

Pelicans may want to keep Brandon Ingram around a bit longer

Between New Orleans starting off their season with a W, Yves Missi's fantastic rookie debut, and Dejounte Murray's unfortunate injury, Brandon Ingram's performance in the opener has gotten swept under the rug far too quickly. With Zion sidelined with an illness and Trey Murphy III still out with his hamstring strain, the Pelicans needed more offense from Ingram than they normally would and he responded with aplomb.

He finished the night with 33 points, two assists, and seven boards on a clean 13-23 shooting. Not only did he dominate the game, he also showed crucial developments in the areas that he needed to this past offseason. The patented midrange jumpers were still there, and some of them were infuriatingly poor choices, but he certainly displayed a willingness to play the brand of basketball that'll unlock the Pelicans offense with the team back at full strength.

He cashed three triples on five attempts against the Chicago Bulls, visibly determined to generate offense from behind the arc. He only made three or more 3-pointers in eight games in all of last season. He only took five or more treys in 20. He was also insistent on attacking the rim. 11 of his shots came inside of the paint, including six buckets in the restricted area. He added two trips to the line too by driving hard to the hole and forcing the Bulls' defense to foul him.

With Dejounte Murray set to miss an extended amount of time with a fractured left hand and Zion's injury history, Brandon Ingram has now gone from an unnecessary excess to much-needed insurance for the Pelicans' offense. Trading him this past summer or even before last season's trade deadline would have meant selling him off at one of the lowest evaluations of his career. If he can continue to play the way he did in the opener, he'll be able to buoy this Pelicans' team while they continue to deal with injuries and significantly raise his trade stock. And if he continue to show improvement in his shot selection, 3-point shooting, slashing, playmaking, and defense, he might earn a long-term slot alongside Zion as a cornerstone of this New Orleans team.