Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why they will miss Brandon Ingram

4. His defensive potential

If this Lakers roster has one weakness, it’s a big forward or wing that can effectively guard star forwards who also have length, such as Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ben Simmons.

At 6-foot-9 and with a 7-foot-3 wingspan, Ingram has the physical tools to become a high-level individual defender. He may not max out at the level of a Scottie Pippen, but he could probably get as high as one tier below that top tier in NBA history where you’ll also find guys like Dennis Rodman and former Laker Michael Cooper.

Danny Green has always been a strong one-on-one defender, but at 6-foot-6 he lacks the elite length to guard certain wings. James has the size at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, but do we really want him exerting that much energy throughout the game at his age and with the insane mileage he has?

Granted, Ingram still needs to show more growth and consistency at that end of the court. But given the improvement he’s shown in just the last two years overall, and the amount of hard and smart work that’s required to show that type of improvement, who’s to say he definitely won’t become one of the NBA’s better wing defenders in time?