Pelicans eyeing starting Ingram and McCollum alongside Zion in preseason

MIAMI, Fl. (WVUE) - The Pelicans continue preseason play Wednesday (Oct. 12) night, facing the heat on the road.

Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum are listed as questionable, but if all goes as planned, we could see the projected starting five for the first time.

Up to this point in the Pelicans’ 3-0 preseason run, we have not seen the projected starting five on the court together.

Brandon Ingram has been dealing with toe soreness, while C.J. McCollum has been dealing with ankle soreness.

But head coach Willie Green told us that both Ingram and McCollum went through a full practice Tuesday, and he’s optimistic that the starting five will play tomorrow night against the Heat.

“I’m optimistic but like I said, once tomorrow comes, they go through shootaround, what have you, we’ll see how they respond,” Green said.

Forward Zion Williamson says he hopes the starting five can all play together in the preseason but understands they’ve got a long regular season head.

“In a perfect world, yes, it would be good to get out there in the preseason, but at the end of the day the season is 82 games so we’ll have time if we don’t get to do it before the season starts,” Williamson said.

What we have seen so far in the preseason is the depth the Pelicans have on their roster.

Second-year forward Trey Murphy drained 7 threes and 27 points in the win over the Spurs.

“He just made quick decisions,” Green said. “When he was open, he shot the ball, defended well, rebounded, all the things we talked about that we know he’s capable of doing. He put it on display.”

“Trey can do that,” Williamson said. “Me and Trey click like that. When you have a shooter like that, that’s also the athlete he is, that’s hard to guard especially when people are so locked in on my drive or people are so locked in on BI or CJ. A shooter like that, that’s a great threat to have.”

The Pelicans also added some local talent to that roster on Monday, signing Baton Rouge native and former LSU Tiger Javonte Smart along with forward Kelan Martin.

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