“Inside the NBA” crew ranks the New Orleans Pelicans among the top 50 of the beginning of the season

We’re now just five days away from the New Orleans Pelicans tipping off their 2024-25 regular season against the Chicago Bulls at the Smoothie King Center, and the Player Power Rankings continue to flow.

With the team having three players listed among ESPN’s top 50 NBA players entering the season, another provider has now begun publishing its own power rankings, and their ratings may carry a little more weight given their history.

A recent Bleacher Report article lists the first 30 players in the top 50 for this particular power ranking, a list compiled by the Inside the NBA crew, Shaquille O’Neill, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

The Pelicans’ first on the list is polarizing star forward Brandon Ingram, who is ranked No. 45 on the list.

Ingram’s numbers took a hit last year as Zion Williamson stayed healthy enough to play a career-best 70 games, meaning the offense didn’t stress Ingram as much as it had in years past.

In his first four seasons with the Pelicans, Ingram posted a 28.9 percent usage rate, producing 23.7 points and 5.0 assists in 34.1 minutes in 223 games.

Last year, Ingram’s usage fell to 27.2 percent, dropping his point total to 20.8, although his assists rose to 5.7 in 32.9 minutes in 64 games.

While many may expect more of the same in the coming year and Williamson appears to be in the best shape of his life, not so fast my friends.

With the acquisition of Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans added a true point guard to the roster this offseason.

Having a true point guard on the roster will help Ingram focus more on his own scoring opportunities and less on facilitating the offense, giving him time to get off the ball while Murray works his magic to get the to find an open man.

It’s also a contract year for the forward, the second of his tenure with the Pelicans, and in the first he played some of the best ball of his career.

During the 2019-20 season, Ingram posted 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 33.9 minutes in 62 games.

That was enough for the forward to earn his first All-Star award, his only one to date, and also earned him the Most Improved Player award.

While he was still good enough to stay out of the Most Improved conversations, the inclusion of Murray and Ingram’s talent to play in a contract year could lead to the forward earning another All-Star nomination, while helping lead this team to another playoff run.