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Los Angeles Lakers: Player Rankings through the first half of the season (41 Games)

By Addam Goldman

Los Angeles Lakers, Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Los Angeles Lakers, Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers, Brandon Ingram (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

7. Brandon Ingram

2018-19 per game stats: 16.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.67 SPG, .464 FG%, .291 3P%

VORP: -0.6, 17th, which is last out of every Lakers player who has played this year

WS: 0.3, last on this list of 11 players

DEFRTG (last 10 games, minimum 15 minutes per game): 98.7, 2nd on the Lakers

OFFRTG (last 10 games, minimum 15 minutes per game): 102.1, 7th on the Lakers

MOET: 5

I’ve written a lot about Brandon Ingram’s play this season.

I think Brandon has played a very selfish brand of basketball throughout the season. I give him credit for not deferring to LeBron James the way a lot of 21-year old players would, but there’s a right way to the play the game and there’s a wrong way to the play game.

The Lakers offense is designed like the Warriors offense, which means the Lakers players should constantly pass and cut when they have the ball. Unfortunately, when Ingram get the rock in his hands he mucks up everything and turns the offense it into his own personal brick fest.

I’ve never seen a guy as young as Brandon Ingram, and on a team as good as the Lakers, singlehandedly take over 10 to 12 possessions per game by over-dribbling and then launching up an ugly 2-pointer.

The Lakers have won 22 games this season and Brandon gets credit for 0.3 of those wins according to www.basketball-reference.com. How is that even possible? Brandon’s been great on defense, in fact he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, but his offensive game has been atrocious.

It is not all bad, though. I do see a lot of Scottie Pippen in Brandon Ingram. Pippen came into the league when he was 22 years old and averaged eight points a game. It wasn’t until Pippen turned 24, that he really became a great all-around player.

Ingram’s still young, so of course he has time to figure things out, but if he wants to become the kind of player that Pippen was, he’s going to have to play the game the right way, which means thinking of his teammates instead of just chucking up wild turn-around jumpers from 19 feet.

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