![]() Trading with the Portland Trail Blazers for guard CJ McCollum took some of the offensive pressure off their leading scorer, Brandon Ingram, and gave the Pelicans a much-needed veteran leader in the locker room. As the trade deadline approached, the Pelicans had become a pesky and physical defensive team and had climbed to 10th place in the West. Instead, he focused on developing other young stars: Trey Murphy, a first-round pick Herbert Jones, a second-round pick and the undrafted point guard Jose Alvarado have emerged as surprisingly mature and effective rookies. ![]() But Willie Green, their first-year head coach, managed not to let the team linger on questions of when Williamson would return. They won just one game in their first 13 and spent most of the first three months in the Western Conference cellar. With Williamson sidelined again this season, the Pelicans looked listless to start the year. It’s Williamson’s ability to score easily in halfcourt sets that New Orleans has missed the most this year. His average of 20.3 points in the paint per game was more than any player since Shaquille O’Neal. He proved to be one of the most efficient scorers in the N.B.A., at one point shooting better than 50 percent from the floor in 25 consecutive games. The next season, he averaged 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game on the way to his first All-Star selection. preseason, Williamson appeared in only 24 games during his first season in New Orleans. After tearing his meniscus in the 2019 N.B.A.
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