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| Brandon Ingram has emerged as one of the top young players in the league in the 2019-2020 season and future cornerstone of the New Orleans Pelicans. |
Depending on who you speak to, you’re going to get differing
opinions on the 2016 draft. The draft class is still littered with uncertainty, is there a true star among them? Is Ben Simmons a franchise player if he never becomes a decent shooter? Was Jamal Murray worth 5 years $170 million? Is Domantas
Sabonis a franchise cornerstone or just a high-end role player? Among all the
questions surrounding the 2016 draft class, one has been undeniably answered so
far in the 2019-2020 season: Brandon Ingram is an All Star level player at age 22 and has the potential to develop into a franchise player going forward.
The emergence of Ingram may come as a surprise for some who
may have written off the 22 year old forward a little prematurely after his first
3 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers left a lot to be desired. Coming into the NBA Brandon
Ingram was touted as the next Kevin Durant, a long skinny forward who had the
potential to be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams on offense as well as a
versatile defender. Brandon Ingram is not Kevin Durant. Shocking, I know, there is no equivalent to Durant but he has shown why he received such high praise coming out of Duke. While we have seen flashes of Ingram’s defensive potential through
his first 4 seasons this still isn’t an area where Ingram shines on a
consistent basis. On the offensive end, steady improvement has been a theme in
Ingram’s young career and that theme has continued this season as Ingram has
increased his scoring average a full 7 points from 18.3 to 25.3 PPG, good for
12th in the NBA at this point in the season. A 7 point scoring
improvement is a major development but that isn’t even the most exciting development
in his game. Brandon Ingram has developed into an above average (dare I say elite?!) shooter. Ingram spent the first 3 seasons of his NBA career as
a poor free throw and 3 point shooter. Prior to this season, Ingram’s career
high in free throw percentage was 68% which is honestly disgusting for a perimeter scorer.
That free throw percentage has ballooned to 85% this season on a similar rate
of attempts. As we've heard all heard a million times before, free throw percentage tends to be an indicator for 3 point performance, that is proven to be true with BI. Ingram has raised his 3 point percentage from 33% on 2
attempts a game (yuck) to an impressive 41% on 5.7 attempts a game. Ingram hasn’t
been considered a good shooter to this point in his career, so to help you
understand the level Ingram has reached as a shooter here is a list of players widely considered good shooters who are shooting under 40% from deep on a comparable number
of attempts:
Kawhi Leonard
Devin Booker
LeBron James
Donovan Mitchell
Jrue Holiday
Lou Williams
When you consider the fact that Ingram spent the majority of
his summer recovering from surgery on a deep vein thrombosis in his right
shoulder, it’s even more impressive that he has been able to turn the corner and become an elite offensive player. Ingram’s improvement isn’t limited to his
scoring ability, he is currently posting career highs in assists, rebounds, steals and
blocks per game. Ingram seems determined to reach his ceiling as a leader and
franchise cornerstone. The Pelicans have struggled to win games this season (Zion,
where you at?!) but the lone ray of sunshine on the franchise nearly half-way through
the 2019-2020 season has been Ingram’s arrival. David Griffin was right to make him the centerpiece of the Anthony Davis trade and that bet has paid off. I’d bet if you
gave Griffin a time machine he’d go back and sign Ingram to an extension while
we were still wondering if he would ever play again. A max contract is almost inevitable if Ingram can sustain his efficiency and production.
Whether New Orleans ends up paying or a team this summer decides to go all in, someone is going to open up the checkbook and run Brandon Ingram his money. The league is beginning to take notice as Ingram was recently named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week award after leading New Orleans to a 4 game win streak where he put up 25.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2 steals per game while shooting 49% from the field and 54% from 3. Ingram has gone from a promising young prospect to a potential All Star. If someone told you 2 years ago that they thought Brandon Ingram had star potential, you may have laughed at them. In 2019-2020 the only one laughing is Ingram, all the way to the bank.
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