Congratulations, Los Angeles Lakers fans. Even though Kevin Durant wouldn’t meet with your team during free agency, he is still really, really, ridiculously high on your newest franchise savior, Brandon Ingram.
Here’s the catch: He is high on Ingram insofar as he was high on himself as a teenager, per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation:
Asked Kevin Durant about Brandon Ingram today and he said Ingram's even farther along than he was at that age, really impressed.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) July 19, 2016
Durant also said something about Ingram and mirrors:
Kevin Durant on @B_Ingram13: “First person I can say, that I can look at him & feel like I’m looking in the mirror.” pic.twitter.com/1EDSgsrPfu
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) July 19, 2016
Um, sorry, Kevin. Ingram definitely has more hair on his head than you ever did.
But yeah, aside from that, Lakers fans should be pretty pumped.
Ingram has been loosely compared to Durant, as is every lanky 6’9″ combo forward who can stroke threes, put the ball on the floor, pass and play defense. But that’s only because such basketball unicorns are hard to find. So when you do find one, you’re inclined to make the comparison.
Personally, I see more of Paul George in Ingram, which is still a complement. It doesn’t seem as if he’ll ever become the playmaker Durant is, and it’s difficult to envision him shooting as high of a percentage off self-created shots.
Hell, in Los Angeles, with D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson making up the backcourt, it’s tough to imagine Ingram being used as more than a catch-and-shoot weapon right off the bat. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if the Lakers seek to turn Ingram into a three-and-D specialist it could curtail his ceiling in some way.
Still, Kevin Durant sees some of himself in Brandon Ingram. Trying spinning that a bad way. It won’t work.
