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Los Angeles Lakers: How have Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma developed this season

By Addam Goldman

(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers, Brandon Ingram (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Brandon Ingram:

2017-2018 per game stats: 16.1 PPG, 3.9 APG, 5.3 RPG, 0.8 SPG, .390 3P%, .483 2P%

2018-2019 per game stats: 16.9 PPG, 3 APG, 4.8 RPG, 0.6 SPG, .289 3P%, .511 2P%

Brandon Ingram’s stats from last season are very similar to this season, with one glaring exception: His 3-point percentage has nosedived this year.

There are two areas where Brandon Ingram’s improved this year:

  1. Brandon’s field goal percent from 3-10 feet last year was 20%, while this year it’s at 44%.
  2.  Brandon’s field goal percentage from 10-16 feet last year was 35%, while this year it’s at 41%.

There are two areas where Brandon Ingram’s regressed this year:

  1. As I already said his 3-point percentage has gone from 39% last year to 29% this year.
  2. Brandon’s defense has declined very slightly this year. I know it seems like Ingram’s defense has gotten much better this season, especially with Kyrie Irving just having said how impressed he was with Brandon’s individual performance on him, but all of the numbers paint a different picture.
  • 2017-2018 Defensive Rating: 109 versus 2018-2019 Defensive Rating: 111
  • Over the last 15 games, Ingram has a 117.3 DEFRTG, which is 2nd to last on the Lakers (excluding Reggie’s Bullock’s one game with the Lakers).
  •  2017-2018 Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.3 versus 2018-2019 DBPM: -0.3
  •  Ingram’s blocks, steals, and rebounds are all down from last season.

(I’m not saying that Ingram is a bad defender, in fact, I think he’s been decent on that end of the court, and he has the potential to be the best perimeter ball hawk in the NBA. I’m simply saying that the numbers show that’s he hasn’t gotten better on D this year versus last, and perhaps he’s gotten slightly worse.)

Compare Brandon’s stats this season to the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th picks from the 2016-2017 draft (Ingram was the 2nd pick):

  1. Ben Simmon’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 16.9 PPG, 8 APG, 9.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 22 years old
  2. Brandon Ingram’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 16.9 PPG, 3 APG, 4.8 RPG, 0.6 SPG, 21 years old
  3. Jaylen Brown’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 12.8 PPG, 1.3 APG, 4.3 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 22 years old
  4. Dragan Bender’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 4 PPG, 0.8 APG, 2.1 RPG, 0.2 SPG, 21 years old
  5. Kris Dunn’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 12 PPG, 6.5 APG, 4.2 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 24 years old
  6. Buddy Hield’s 2018-2019 per game stats: 20.5 PPG, 2.3 APG, 5.1 RPG, 0.5 SPG, 26 years old

Brandon hasn’t shown tremendous improvement this year, but with the exception of Ben Simmons, he compares very well to the rest of the top picks from the 2016-2017 draft.

Hield is the only player from the list above who is averaging more points than Ingram, but he’s five years older than Brandon. Also, nobody on that list, including Simmons, has more defensive potential than Ingram.

Ingram hasn’t blasted off like Ben Simmons and become an All-Star, but I think everyone needs to ease up on him. He’s incredibly young, he’s playing under the sun-like glare of Los Angeles, and he’s had to adjust to LeBron.

When Paul George was 21 he averaged 12 PPG. When Jimmy Butler was 23 he averaged 13 PPG, and when Giannis was 21 he, like Ingram, averaged 16.9 PPG, so Ingram is still on course to develop into an All-Star.

Verdict: Ingram has stagnated this year, but it takes time for young players to develop. The future is still very bright for Brandon.

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