It’s the dog days of the NBA calendar, and for Lakers fans, that means our imaginations are hard at work
With this offseason’s unfamiliar feeling of optimism, all eyes are Brandon Ingram, the Lakers’ second overall pick in this year’s draft and Kevin Durant’s heir apparent.
Okay, maybe I got a bit carried away with the last one, but it’s easy to see why Lakers’ faithful have such high expectations. After one tremendous season at Duke, Ingram looks to bring his invaluable combination of size and scoring ability to the NBA and help lead the Lakers back to championship form.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, we have to remember the sample size we’re dealing with here. Ingram’s 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks during his lone season in Durham are certainly impressive, but that’s just over 36 career games.
In his Las Vegas Summer League appearance, he had a more tepid showing, averaging just 12.2 points and 4.2 rebounds. Either way, five Summer League games offers us little more than some extra fuel for our speculative fire.
And rage it shall.
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s take a look at the best and worst case scenarios for Ingram’s rookie season.
Next: Best Case Scenario