The New Orleans Pelicans were open to trading Brandon Ingram during the offseason, and the Chicago Bulls were open to trading Zach LaVine.
But neither team received a satisfactory offer for their former All-Star players.
So when these teams meet in the season opener Wednesday night in New Orleans, Ingram will still be a Pelican and LaVine will still be a Bull.
Both teams did make significant moves in the offseason to try and break out of the middle of the pack in their conferences.
New Orleans acquired guard Dejounte Murray from Atlanta in exchange for four players, though none of them were starters. Murray was not with team at the beginning of the week because of a family emergency, but he was expected to return late Tuesday.
New Orleans is excited to pair Murray with Ingram and forward Zion Williamson, but it has uncertainty at center after sending Jonas Valanciunas to Washington. Journeyman Daniel Theis, European rookie Karlo Matkovic and first-round pick Yves Missi will rotate in at center. The Pelicans may also play without a traditional center at times.
“We’re working toward being a team that goes out every night and competes at a high level, bringing energy and effort, a team that’s disciplined and a team that goes out and plays with joy and has fun doing it,” head coach Willie Green said. “I think those are the ingredients that allow you to have some success.”
The Pelicans won 49 games last season, losing a tiebreaker to Phoenix for the No. 6 seed in the West. They advanced out of the play-in tournament but were then swept by Oklahoma City while Williamson was sidelined and Ingram played hurt.
Each of the last two seasons a team that finished one game ahead of New Orleans (Dallas last year, the Lakers two years ago) advanced at least to the Western Conference finals.
“We talk every year about how important it is to make sure we’re detailed, make sure we tie up loose ends because it can make or break a season,” Green said. “It sometimes comes down to that one game.”
Last year, Chicago wrapped up the regular season 39-43 and didn’t make it past the play-in tournament. In July, Bulls traded leading scorer DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento in a three-team trade that brought them guard Chris Duarte. That deal came after Chicago traded guard Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City for guard Josh Giddey.
In the process, the Bulls got younger and head coach Billy Donovan has prepared them to play with a faster tempo.
“As fast as we’re trying to play, we’re going to need to probably have a rotation of about 10,” Donovan told 670 The Score in Chicago. “I’ve had a rotation nine generally, but for us, I think we’re going to have to go to 10.”
There’s no guarantee Ingram will finish the season with New Orleans or LaVine will finish it with Chicago.
“That’s going to be part of the season,” LaVine told The Athletic. “Everything isn’t going to be perfect. I’m in a good mindset that I think I’ll be fine with being able to play through the waves and the rollercoaster ride and just stay level-headed.”
