Pelicans' Brandon Ingram Suffers Head Injury vs. Thunder; Severity Unclear

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram suffered a head injury in the second quarter of his team's 115-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday and did not return, per Jeff Nowak of Nola.com.

Per Nowak, Ingram requested a substitution midway through the second quarter. JJ Redick replaced him.

It is unclear what caused the injury. There also hasn't been word regarding its nature or whether Ingram will miss time, as of Saturday evening.

Ingram played 79 games as a rookie in 2016-17 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers but has struggled to stay on the court since, appearing in 59 contests in 2017-18 and 52 games last season. He was ruled out for the remainder of the 2018-19 campaign in March with deep vein thrombosis.

The Duke product hadn't fully turned the corner in Los Angeles after the Lakers selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, but he's shown significant improvement in 2019-20 with the Pels, averaging 26.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in his first five games.

He posted 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season before Los Angeles included him in the offseason trade package it used to land Anthony Davis.

The 22-year-old has a bright future, and New Orleans will likely treat his eventual return with caution. Look for it to turn toward Josh Hart and Redick on the wing in Ingram's absence.