Bright future ahead for New Orleans Pelicans
Ever since the New Orleans Pelicans front office made that move and traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was known that they are going to rebuild their roster with young prospects, not only in those who came from LA, but in their future drafts picks, too. And one of those future draft picks proved to be none other than Zion Williamson, who, after a season in which he didn’t play due to various health problems and major concerns about his weight and dedication to the game, came right back and showed us that all the hype that was built around him since his college days was real. This season he averages 22.3 PTS, 6 REB and 4 AST per-game on 56% FG%.
Brandon Ingram, who didn’t gain the Lakers’ organization trust in his early days, developed into a much reliable player for the Pels. He started to play so good that people around the league begun to compare him with Kevin Durant, as their body and playstyle are almost the same. Ingram was named an All-Star right in the first season played in New Orleans, and that makes you wonder about the Lakers management for a bit, because it is not only Ingram’s case, in which a player left the LA based team and prospered somewhere else right after the trade… but that is another topic.
Once CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas were moved last season to New Orleans, the things started to take shape kind of early, as they managed to make the playoffs for the first time since the Anthony Davis era (last time they made the playoffs was in the 2017-18 season). Even though they lost in six games, in the first round, to the first seeded Phoenix Suns, it was clear that the future is bright for them and they can only go up from that point. A young, talented roster who didn’t even hit their prime yet, with veteran playoffs experience also, in CJ and Valanciunas… and let’s not forget, they still have Lakers’ draft pick this year. It remains to be seen if LA can turn their season around and get out of the mud, but for now, the Pelicans organization can only hope for them to stay out of the playoffs for another year.
So, if they continue to work hard and develop with the same young core for some years, they definitely can take New Orleans Pelicans to a level that they never been, not even with Chris Paul or Anthony Davis.
