Brandon Ingram’s 3rd Season
This year, things have been a little different for Brandon Ingram.
The Lakers acquired LeBron James in free agency so now the Lakers are playing with expectations they have not had in quite some time.
The moment it was apparent that the Lakes were not going to get a second superstar to play alongside James, the spotlight immediately turned to Brandon Ingram.
He was the guy that was said to be the sidekick of LeBron. Ingram was pegged as they player the Lakers would rely upon after LeBron to help carry this team to where they ultimately want to be.
But things ultimately took a different turn when early in the season, Brandon Ingram was suspended four games for his role in the Rajon Rondo vs Chris Paul altercation in the Lakers second game of the season against the Houston Rockets.
After receiving a technical foul for pushing James Harden, Ingram preceded to intervene in the following altercation between Rondo and Paul by throwing an unnecessary punch at Chris Paul that thankfully did not fully connect.
The NBA suspended all three players involved for multiple games, and for Los Angeles, these suspensions looked to be crucial in the development of chemistry for the Lakers.
When Ingram came back, it was an up and down ride for Ingram trying to figure out how he would best fit alongside James.
Before the season started I predicted that either Kuzma or Ingram would take a step back in their development with the arrival of LeBron.
I actually assumed it would be Kuzma, but so far it has been Ingram who has taken an ever so slight step back.
Numbers wise, he’s hovering around the same stats he garnered last season. While his numbers are not awful, they are not what most people expected going into this season.
I’ve often noticed at times this season that whenever things aren’t going right for Ingram early on, he tends to lose his confidence and you can see that it affects him all game long.
Ingram has had a few solid games this season. He scored 24 points in his first game back from suspension on October 29, 2018, against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Just recently, he scored a season high 29 points in a road win against the Dallas Mavericks.
I think that because of the way Kyle Kuzma is playing this season and the fact that everyone was hyping up Ingram before the season started as the No. 2 guy behind LeBron, it’s made Brandon Ingram look as if he has not improved his game and that he is not a good fit next to LeBron.
Even the numbers back up the claim that Ingram’s game suffers when he is on the court with LeBron.
It’s just unfortunate that if the Lakers really believe that there is no way that Ingram and LeBron could ever work together, that it will be Ingram who most likely gets the boot out of Los Angeles.
On the flip side, one thing that I think makes Ingram look a little better is the fact that the Boston Celtics two young forwards, who were touted to have incredible seasons this year in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have not exactly panned out as people expected this year.
We are at the midway point of the season, and Brandon still has time to turn things around.
That is, if he doesn’t get traded at the trade deadline.
Up to this point, Ingram is averaging 16.3 PPG, 2.6 APG and 4.8 RPG.