It may be difficult to remember given how the season ended, but there was once a time early in the year when Zion Williamson had the New Orleans Pelicans surging in Brandon Ingram’s absence.
When Williamson went down on January 2nd, he had the Pelicans sitting at 23-14 and near the top of the Western Conference, despite Ingram being on the mend with a toe injury. This led some sects of the fanbase to wonder if the team was better off trading Ingram and bringing in better-fitting pieces around Williamson.
Those factions have since died down, as Williamson went on to miss the final 45 games of the regular season while Ingram carried the burden of the franchise in his absence.