Los Angeles Lakers: Which young core member has the highest ceiling?
Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Kyle Kuzma are already impactful players for the Los Angeles Lakers, but which one will continue to improve and eventually become the best out of the Lakers young core?
Los Angeles Lakers fans have had two years to watch Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma and they’ve had three seasons to observe Brandon Ingram.
After all that time one thing has become apparent: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Kyle Kuzma each have unique skill sets.
Ingram shines in one-on-one situations.
Ball is a defensive wizard and a special passer.
Kuzma can get a good look from anywhere on the court.
Let’s delve into the way these three players operate on the court and see what the advanced stats can show us about each member of the Lakers young core.
To keep things subjective, I’ll examine the case for and against each young Lakers player and then make a decision about which one has the best chance of becoming a superstar in the NBA.
Brandon Ingram
The case for Brandon Ingram:
During the 2018-2019 season, Brandon Ingram scored 1.00 points per possession out of isolation plays, which was in the 80th percentile in the NBA.
Ingram’s skill out of one-on-one situations is truly impressive when compared with some of the best players in the NBA.
- Kevin Durant: 1.06 ppp (85th percentile)
- Kawhi Leonard: 1.05 ppp (84th percentile)
- Kemba Walker: 1.03 ppp (82nd percentile)
- DeMar DeRozan: 1.00 ppp (80th percentile)
- Jimmy Butler: 0.99 ppp (76th percentile)
- Kyrie Irving: 0.98 ppp (74th percentile)
- LeBron James: 0.97 ppp (73rd percentile)
Brandon Ingram was also 27th in the NBA in points scored off of drives at 6.7 PPG.
Ingram’s success out of isolation plays and at driving to the rim depicts a player who is one of the best in the NBA at getting his own shot.
Brandon Ingram shot 33% from deep last season, but during February he hit 39% of his 3-pointers and through March he knocked down 50% of his outside looks before he went down with blood clots in his shoulder. Brandon showed during his last 15 games that his 3-point stroke is progressing.
Brandon Ingram flashed lock-down defensive ability at times last season as well. He garnered high praise from Kyrie Irving on February 8th after he stifled the Celtics guard at the TD Garden. Irving said this about Ingram’s defense, “Being guarded by Brandon Ingram most of the game, I can’t even lie to you guys, those guys on the defensive end are unusual. Driving lanes that I see against every other team, they were closing down the lane.”
The case against Brandon Ingram:
According to the advanced stats, Brandon Ingram was a subpar player during the 2018-2019 season.
- Value Over Replacement Player: -0.3 (20th on the Lakers)
- Win Shares: 2.0 out of the Lakers 37 wins (6th on the Lakers)
- Defensive Rating: 112 (18th on the Lakers)
- Offensive Rating: 104 (12th on the Lakers)
- ESPN’s real plus-minus: -1.77 (55th out of 93 qualified small forwards)
Brandon Ingram’s defensive advanced stats are dragged down by his below average rebounding (7.8 TRB%) and his poor block shot rate (1.4 BLK%), but he still showed he can be an excellent perimeter defender last season.
Brandon Ingram’s offensive advanced stats were pulled south for two reasons:
- He’s a very bad passer. Ingram was 4th on the Lakers last season in total touches at 60.1 per game, but he only averaged three assists per contest.
- He turned the ball over too much. During the 2018-2019 season Ingram had a higher turnover percentage (13.1) than assist percentage (12.9)
Last season Brandon Ingram showed that he can get his own basket, but if he wants to take his game to the next level he’s going to have to start doing all the little things (passing, rebounding, blocking shots, and not turning the ball over) to take his game to the next level.