Los Angeles Lakers: Brandon Ingram is beginning to show consistency

Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers is starting to show the type of player he can be in a solid recent stretch.

While the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled of late, one of their young players is really starting to perform well. Coming into the season, there was a lot of expectations for Brandon Ingram.

As a former No.2 overall pick out of Duke, Ingram has a ton of potential. His length and speed as a forward is something that obviously can’t be taught. His physical attributes resulted in many comparing him to another lanky forward in Kevin Durant.

Since Ingram is such a young player, consistency has been a major issue for him. While he has shown signs of being able to be an All-Star caliber player, that hasn’t been something we’ve seen on a nightly basis.

While the beginning of the season wasn’t easy for Ingram as he served a suspension and missed time with injuries, he has been playing very well of late. In his last five games, Ingram is averaging 26.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Ingram has been scoring very efficiently, as he is shooting it at 55.6 percent from the field during this stretch. In addition to his solid shooting percentage from the floor, he is also shooting better from the free-throw line. Ingram is shooting just over 75 percent from the line during this stretch, and averaging 9.0 free-throws per game.

While the Lakers know that they have their star in LeBron James, having others step up next to him is crucial. For parts of the season, Kyle Kuzma looked like he was going to be the second-option to James. While Kuzma has played well this season, the recent stretch by Ingram has been really impressive.

The way Ingram has been playing of late is certainly of All-Star caliber. This is what the Lakers hoped to see from Ingram, and while it isn’t a huge stretch, this has been some of the most consistent great play we have seen from him.

Even though the Lakers are 2-3 during this solid stretch for Ingram, his performance will certainly result in more wins for them if he can keep it up. While making the playoffs is the goal for the Lakers, the strong play of Ingram of late might result in the front office reconsidering making him available in trades this offseason. If he can play at an All-Star level like he is, the Lakers would be foolish to trade him.

As we get closer to the playoffs, Ingram will certainly be a player to keep an eye on for the Lakers. If he keeps playing the way he is, it will definitely help the Lakers reach the playoffs