Los Angeles Lakers: Reason to consider Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope trade
Brandon Ingram:
Ingram’s an incredibly talented player who works hard, but the way he’s been playing offense this year has hurt the Lakers. Brandon’s averaging two assists per game this season with a 10.5% Assist Rate. Compare those numbers to last year when he was averaging 4 assists per game with an 18% Assist Rate.
It’s one thing if a forward like Terrence Ross has a 10% Assist Rate, because he’s not capable of creating for others and that’s not what he’s expected to do for the Orlando Magic. He’s a 3-and-D guy who is playing his role well for his team.
It’s another thing all together, if a player like Brandon Ingram has an incredibly low Assist Rate, because he’s a gifted passer. He was the Lakers starting point guard for around half the season last year and with Rondo injured, he’s the Lakers de facto backup point guard right now, which shows how much a playmaker he can be.
Many fans were ecstatic after Ingram dished out nine assists against the Kings, because he played a great game. I wasn’t happy though, in fact, during the game, I found myself getting heated, because Brandon displayed just what’s he capable of doing for the Purple and Gold, but what he’s been unwilling to do.
Ingram’s averaging 13 shots per game and according to my completely unofficial eye-test, four out of those 13 shots have been good ones.
Here’s what I bet Ingram has been thinking about this year:
1. I worked incredibly hard over the offseason with Micah Lancaster (AKA: the guy who helped Victor Oladipo become an All-Star last year), so I’m not going to defer to LeBron James or Kyle Kuzma or anybody. I deserve to get my shots.
2. It’s my 3rd year, and this coming summer I’m eligible for an extension. I haven’t played well enough to earn a max-extension, so I’ve got to show Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka I can score one-on-one and that I can be a 20 points per game scorer.
3. I want to be a great player and the best players in the NBA put up points from all over the court.
Brandon Ingram’s been great on defense, but he’s been so selfish and awful on offense that he’s dead last on the Lakers in Value Over Replacement Player and he’s 15th out of 17 players in Box Plus Minus for the Lakers.
Magic and Pelinka get paid a lot of money to figure out what’s best for the Lakers. They’re going to have to really dig in and decide if the Lakers can be real contenders this year. If the answer is yes, then somebody’s going to have to find a way to get Brandon to stop stat hunting and to actually make the right plays.