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The New Orleans Pelicans used the 2022 trade deadline to make a massive splash. They traded for CJ McCollum in a win-now move, sending their first-round pick for this season to the Portland Trail Blazers even though it is currently in the top 10.
The Pelicans put the pressure on to start winning. At 30 years old, McCollum doesn't have any time to wait for young players to develop. New Orleans needs to get ready to win as soon as possible. McCollum, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram don't have any time to waste. They have to figure out how to lead the Pelicans to the postseason as soon as possible.
McCollum has plenty of pressure to perform but his new co-star has even more. It isn't the one you're thinking about, though. Although the team starts and ends with Williamson, he can't prove anything once is physically able to. Hence, the third star in the Pelicans' big three has the most to prove after the All-Star break.
The 1 Pelicans player with most to prove after 2022 All-Star break
Ingram was once an All-Star. When he first debuted with the Pelicans in the 2019-20 season, he burst onto the scene as a vastly improved scorer and won the Most Improved Player Award. Now, he's one of the more forgotten stars in the league.
This season, Ingram is averaging 22.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists. His shooting splits are lower than usual, as he is shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers. Over the last two seasons, those percentages were 46.4 and 38.6 respectively. His development, though very promising early on in his career, has stagnated.
Ingram and Williamson were projected to be the Pelicans' young star duo, but they have only played 81 games together so far. Now that he has a surefire star-level player next to him in McCollum, he will have to start producing better for the rest of the season. The two of them could be a very strong scoring duo together. Along with Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte' Graham, the Pelicans should be able to improve their offense.
Ingram has to play a big part in New Orleans' second-half resurgence. Players like him who post good numbers on bad teams often get labeled as empty-stats players. Although the team's lackluster record (23-36, 12th place in the Western Conference) isn't his fault, he will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in order to be considered a true star again. Whether that be doing more on defense, scoring at a more efficient rate, both or something else, he'll have to find a way to improve.
McCollum has proven to be a key part of a winning team with Portland, playing the second fiddle to Damian Lillard very well. With Ingram, he will have to play a similarly nice tune. It may be hard to do without Williamson, though. McCollum hasn't heard from Williamson since being traded to New Orleans. He is becoming a target on opposing teams' radars.
The Pelicans' expectations rely almost entirely on Williamson but Ingram is next in line. As one of the marquee players that the Pelicans traded Anthony Davis for, the pressure is on to be a key part of the team moving forward. Ingram played well with Williamson in the brief time they played together. He will have to keep it up with McCollum and eventually with both of them.
The rest of this season will be important for Ingram to step it up and show that he and McCollum are a legitimate duo. The Pelicans' front office showed a lot of faith in them by trading for McCollum when the team was very low in the standings.
