CJ McCollum: When whole, Pelicans produced good results, but must respond to difficult ending

It had been a multi-year wait, but the 2023-24 season finally gave the New Orleans Pelicans their long-held wish of being able to put all of their best players on the floor for extended stretches. The club’s primary starting five went 25-16 in 41 regular season games, while a handful of other first units that lacked just one starter (among CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas) combined to go 21-11. Adding those yields a 46-27 mark, good for a .630 winning percentage that translates to 52 wins over an 82-game schedule. When McCollum played, the Pelicans were a similar 42-24, but just 7-9 when he was sidelined.

“When we were whole as a roster, I thought we had a really good product, we won a lot of games,” McCollum said after Monday’s season-ending Game 4 playoff loss to Oklahoma City. “We went on a run down the stretch of the season.”

Of course, at the most crucial juncture of the campaign, Ingram sustained a March 21 knee injury, followed by Williamson’s April 16 hamstring injury. That meant the Pelicans were without one of their starting forwards for 17 of their final 19 games overall, including an April 19 play-in against Sacramento and all four playoff contests vs. top-seeded Oklahoma City. New Orleans went 8-9 in those games, unable to overcome Williamson’s absence while averaging just 89.5 points vs. the Thunder. By comparison, the Pelicans tallied under 90 points in only two games (out of 82) during the regular season.

“With (Ingram) injured we won some must-win games against some tough teams,” McCollum said, alluding partly to a 4-0 April road trip highlighted by victories at Phoenix and Golden State. “But I think success is hard to sustain at a high level when you’re not whole. If you look at the rest of the league, if you take the top players off some of those teams, it’s hard to sustain a high level of success. Look at the Sixers with (Joel) Embiid and without him.”

What preceded the late-season fade was one of the best campaigns in New Orleans franchise history, tying its second-best record ever (49-33) and leading the NBA in road wins (28), which was also the most away victories in 22 years of Crescent City hoops.

“It’s tough,” McCollum said of the season’s conclusion, “because we had such a really good season. Obviously (there were) ebbs and flows, injuries, a lot of guys in and out of the lineup. And we get 49 wins… We have really good players and really good pieces, but in order to make a real playoff run, a lot of things have to go your way. You have to be healthy, have a good regular season, execute.”

The Pelicans’ final few weeks meant heading into the offseason with a bitter taste, after losing Game 82 of the regular season and five of their six postseason contests, with four of those defeats in the Smoothie King Center. An 11-year NBA veteran who’s made 10 trips to the playoffs, McCollum emphasized that moments like this can serve as a test of a team’s resolve.

“It’s about how you respond,” McCollum said. “How do you respond when things aren’t going your way? How do you respond when you’re not having the type of success you feel like you work for and deserve? For us collectively, it will be a good summer, figuring out ways to improve and be better for the upcoming year.”