When an NBA team acquires a pair of 21-year-olds in a major trade – as the New Orleans Pelicans did last summer – the hope is that the young players have plenty of room for improvement, plenty of time to make giant strides in their basketball careers. A year after coming to the Crescent City from the City of Angels, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball have emphatically backed up the belief the Pelicans had in their upside. Some NBA analysts predict first-time All-Star Ingram will win the league’s 2019-20 Most Improved Player award, while Ball has made dramatic in-season progress, after recovering from a severe ankle injury.
Improvement from Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball helped push Pelicans into playoff race
