Los Angeles Lakers: Is Brandon Ingram ready to take the next step?

One of the biggest bright spots of last year’s Los Angeles Lakers was the play of Brandon Ingram, who took a quantum leap forward compared to his rookie year in 2016-17. Early in training camp, there are indications that he’s poised to take another significant step forward this season.

When the Los Angeles Lakers selected Brandon Ingram with the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, many felt he had the potential to become a star after a strong freshman season at Duke.

However, he had a pretty weak rookie season, averaging just 9.4 points and 2.1 assists per game on 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 29.4 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Last season, he looked like a whole different guy. He put up 16.1 points and 3.9 assists per game, almost literally doubling his output in both categories from his rookie season.

Even better, his efficiency was very solid as he shot 47 percent from the field and 39 percent from downtown. After the calendar turned over to 2018, he shot a super impressive 45.3 percent from beyond the arc, including an amazing 52.2 percent in February.

Most preseason predictions from the mainstream media have the Lakers getting one of the lower playoff seeds, or even missing the postseason entirely. However, a few pundits, including ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, feel that the purple and gold could be a dark horse title contender this season.

Out of everyone on this team, Brandon Ingram looks to be the biggest X-factor in terms of just how good this team will be this season.

For the Lakers to not just make the playoffs and maybe get to the second round, but to actually reach the Western Conference Finals and have some chance of winning the world championship, Ingram will need to make another jump and knock on the door of being an All-Star.

During the first couple days of training camp, coach Luke Walton concluded business by having the team participate in a 3-point shooting competition. On one team was Ingram, Lebron James, Kyle Kuzma and Lance Stephenson, and they went up against Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee.

Video of this contest seems to reveal that Ingram has improved his shooting stroke and mechanics.

Ingram showed potential last year as a player who could handle the ball and create offense for others.

His opportunities to do so would seem to be limited this year with this addition of LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, who figures to take on most of the burden of engineering what should be a deadly transition game. Therefore, Ingram is looking to improve his production off the ball so that he can find his niche on the team without interfering with what the established veterans do best.

However, coach Walton also made it clear that Ingram won’t be relegated to merely playing off of others. He says Ingram will still be allowed to go one-on-one and make things happen himself while emphasizing that playing off the ball will still be key for him.

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"“Brandon is very good at creating shots for himself and using his length to draw fouls, so we’re still going to put him in those opportunities where he’s proven to us he can succeed”“Now, it’s going to be really important for him this year to constantly be looking to cut without the ball and take advantage of having the other team’s third-best defender on him.”"

The Kinston, NC native has also talked about being a sponge and soaking up knowledge from his teammates.

"“I’m looking forward to picking everyone’s brain. I want to learn something from everybody,” Ingram said. “Whether it’s how Lance or KCP guard on the defensive end, whether it’s how LeBron, how ‘Zo, how Rondo passes the basketball.”"

Yes, the defensive end will be another key for him. Standing at least 6-foot-9 with a wingspan of 7-foot-3, Ingram seems to have the physical tools to become a very good, if not an elite defender. If he becomes an impact player at the end of the floor, it would go a long way towards helping the Lakers realize more of their potential.

History has shown that Lebron James needs two other All-Star-caliber players to contend for an NBA title and that one of them ideally needs to be a superstar or close to it.

Out of all the young prospects on this roster, Ingram seems to have the best chance of becoming Lebron’s sidekick because of his multi-faceted skills and physical gifts.