This is a long Brandon Ingram thread
One of the first videos I ever made (which has since been blocked) was “How Brandon Ingram Fits In w/the Lakers” leading up to the 2016 NBA Draft. It was 26 minutes long. 😂 1/
One of the first videos I ever made (which has since been blocked) was “How Brandon Ingram Fits In w/the Lakers” leading up to the 2016 NBA Draft. It was 26 minutes long. 😂 1/
He was a good scorer in college at 17ppg, but he wasn’t an electric one. He was the second-leading scorer on Duke to Grayson Allen, who was a sophomore. By comparison, RJ Barrett is averaging 24ppg and Zion Williamson is at 20ppg this season. 2/
But it wasn’t solely Ingram’s scoring ability that got him drafted #2. It was that when you watched him - just focusing on him no matter where the ball was - you came away thinking “damn, this dude does a bit of everything” 3/
He was so physically underdeveloped to begin his rookie year that it was easy to recognize that it was gonna take a minute for him to get acclimated to the NBA. So we celebrated his minor successes & were understanding about his struggles. 4/
During the first half of his rookie year, he was part of an excellent bench unit of Lou, JC, him, Nance, & Tarik Black. Lou & JC created the shots, Nance & Black did the dirty work, & BI provided perimeter defense while mostly just getting out of the way on offense. 5/
He moved into the starting lineup in the second half of the year, Magic/Pelinka came in, Lou was traded, and Deng/Mozgov were benched to get minutes for young guys in a year where the Lakers were hoping to keep their Top-3 protected pick. 6/
He looked a lot better in the last couple of months of that season. He was moving more fluidly, wasn’t just a two-foot jumper anymore, and was knocking down his jumper with regularity. Lots of reason for optimism about him going into that summer. 7/
This is where the TYPE of guy that he was expected to be began to change. Magic mused in the summer of 2017 that they’d be disappointed if BI didn’t average 20ppg…a season after he averaged 9.4ppg. 8/
Even if that wasn’t intended literally, the message was clear…Brandon Ingram was expected to become a go-to scorer, and soon. And I feel like he’s been trying to live up to that ever since. 9/
Last season began with a starting lineup of Lonzo/KCP/Brandon/Nance/Lopez. Brandon was the only guy in that lineup who could get his own shot. He went from 9.4ppg the year before to being expected to be the ONLY guy who can get his own. 10/
OF COURSE his efficiency was weighed down by an offensive burden that he wasn’t ready to handle, his advanced mertrics were terrible, and the Lakers had one of the worst offenses in the league to begin the year. 11/
Julius got into the starting lineup 34 games into the season, and the Lakers went on an 8-2 stretch after Lonzo got back from injury. BI was REALLY efficient during the front end of that streak, but he hurt his knee in Dallas & missed a couple of games. 12/
He struggled when he came back, Lonzo got hurt again, and Luke decided to move him to PG after a 22-point loss in Orlando, where Ingram and the team as a whole look particularly listless. Josh Hart replaced Tyler Ennis in the starting lineup. 13/
BI put up 16/8/10 in a win vs BKN in his first game at starting PG. He went on to average 20/4/6 on 62.2 TS% over the next 7 games & the Lakers went 4-3. A lot of the offense was run through Julius & Lopez during this stretch, even though Brandon was the “PG”. Remember these? 14/
Lonzo came back from injury, and the shot creation duties were split between him, Brandon & Julius. The Lakers went 4-0 as Ingram averaged 17/6/8 on 62.4 TS%. Then BI got hurt in Miami, essentially ending his season. 15/
My main Ingram takeaway in that stretch was how he thrived when he was asked to be one of the playmakers, but not The Man. It was also when he shot his best from 3. It was the only time in his career where his role was aligned with his natural talents. 16/
Kawhi Leonard & Paul George were defensive specialists early in their careers, and the first priority in their offensive development was turning them into reliable shooters. Their on-ball offense grew over the course of years, and it was the last piece of the puzzle. 17/
The Lakers have skipped the steps in between and rushed straight to the end game, where you put the ball in his hands, hoping he gets buckets for himself and teammates. In doing that, they’ve cultivated the worst tendencies in his game. 18/
He’s not ready to be an go-to guy - it doesn’t even play to his natural talents - and the Lakers haven’t focused on improving him off of the ball. The result is a guy who struggles to play off of LeBron but doesn’t thrive without him either. 19/
He’s not a lost cause at all, but priority #1 should be the development of his catch & shoot abilities. There hasn’t been enough progress in that area because he’s been groomed as an on-ball scorer instead. 20/
Both the tape and his Play Type data have told the same story in each of his 3 seasons. He’s at his best when he's asked to something other than run ISOs or operate as the pick & roll ball-handler. 21/
His youth + body type + not being clearly incapable in any area makes it easy to project your wildest fantasies onto him as a player, but the Lakers need to take a closer look at who he actually is instead of who they want him to be. 22/22
