Brandon Ingram
Laker fans have been patient awaiting Ingram’s meteoric rise to stardom. The 2015 2nd overall pick was compared to Kevin Durant when he was drafted out of Duke, but his development has been much slower than KD’s. Ingram struggled for much of his rookie season; and while he saw big improvements in virtually every offensive category last year (16.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 47.0 FG%), it was still a far cry from the superstar statine (25.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 47.6 FG%) Durant put up in his second season.
In hindsight, the Durant comparisons were probably unfair to Ingram, who is two inches shorter and less polished than when KD came out of Texas. But last season’s drastic improvement and the addition of LeBron James suggests Ingram could be in for a big year. And The King seems to agree. He praised Ingram as the “next one” during Lakers Media Day earlier in the month.
“I know what I see in him, and he’s looking for this opportunity to make this next jump in his third year,” James said during the preseason. “So, it’s a lot of upside in that kid, and I’m happy to try to give him as much as I can.”
Ingram is already a gifted scorer. But James’s stellar playmaking skills should result in even more easy buckets for Ingram this season.
