1. Brandon Ingram- SF
Of all the players currently on the Lakers’ roster, Brandon Ingram has the best chance to be the second star player this team needs if they want to truly be competitors in the Western Conference.
He has a long way to go until he becomes the player he has the potential to be, but even now he is one of the team’s best players. Ingram had one of the worst rookie seasons you could imagine from the 2nd pick in the draft. It didn’t appear that he was particularly good at anything.
That was no longer the case last season as he made an astounding leap. He went from averaging nine points on 40 percent shooting to 16 points on 47 percent shooting. His 3-point shooting percentage went from 29 percent to 39 percent, and his Player Impact Rating went from 5.5 to 9.6. He was a completely different player in year two and it isn’t unlikely that he will make a similar jump heading into year three.
It is hard to project just how much he will improve, but no one would be shocked if he is a 20 points per game scorer next season. This type of improvement was probably going to happen no matter what, but the Lakers adding LeBron James into the equation makes it even more likely.
Ingram will benefit from playing next to James in numerous ways. One of which is the fact that James’ arrival means the ball will be taken out of Ingram’s hands. Yes, it is peculiar to say aloud, but it is true.
Last season, the Lakers tried to turn Ingram into a point forward, and even a true point guard at times due to injuries. While it was a defensible decision, it is not the best way to utilize his talents. Ingram is best suited to play a wing role similar to that of Paul George in Oklahoma City. Playing alongside James gives him that importunity.
He has the ability to operate a pick and roll, but not particularly effective as a passer. His bread and butter will be scoring in transition, coming off screens in the mid-range, using his excellent cutting ability, spot-up threes, and the occasional isolation on the wing. He should be used as a true forward, where he can be the Paul George to LeBron James’ Russell Westbrook.
As a transition scorer, Ingram was great last season. Adding James to the mix, one of the best transition players ever, will serve to make him even better as he will undoubtedly get plenty of easy buckets.
His mid-range game is where Ingram must improve the most off of last season. He added a very smooth pull-up shot from that area that he was able to abuse defenders with coming off screens, due to his insane length. He wasn’t particularly efficient with these types of shots though, shooting just a 39.5 percent effective field goal percentage on all pull-up shots. This is something he needs to improve upon, but the signs are there that this can become a strength of his.
Ingram also proved to be a great cutter last season, as well as a finisher at the rim off the dribble. A majority of his field goals came from within five feet of the basket, 57 percent of them to be exact. Of these shots, 40 percent of them were unassisted. For perspective, that’s about the same rate as Paul George. He is already about where you want to see him as a finisher at the rim, but the presence of LeBron and maturation of his game will likely lead to him being even better at this.
As a shooter, you hope to see Ingram replicate his shooting from last season but with a higher volume. He shot nearly 40 percent last year, but on just 1.8 attempts per game– with 1.5 being catch and shoot threes. It is safe to assume that his attempts will go up significantly this season as the offense will need spacing from him and he will have many open shots that LeBron creates. You just have to hope this doesn’t harm his efficiency from deep. Only time will tell on that one.
Due to all these factors, among many others, it will not be surprising at all if Brandon Ingram performs at a near all-star level next season.