Brandon Ingram’s rookie season hasn’t been spectacular.
He’s shooting under 30 percent from deep, and his free-throw percentage sits under 65. He plays hard on defense, but his reads can be off, and he’s not yet strong enough to defend power forwards. Naturally, this creates some division within the basketball ranks about his future in NBA. Scouts, according to The Washington Post‘s Tim Bontemps, appear divided on the kind of player he will become:
Scouts and executives are mixed on Ingram’s potential. Some, including the Lakers, view him as a potential superstar, and point to the development of Giannis Antetokounmpo as hope for Ingram’s ability to become a transcendent player in the future. Others look at him as more of a role player over the long term, someone who can become a long-limbed defender and shooter on the perimeter — a valuable player, to be sure, but not the star the Lakers are looking for.
This is a more than fair assessment, and the Giannis Antetokounmpo comparison is a good one—not stylistically, but developmentally.
Too many are in a rush to pass judgment prematurely. Ingram is still only 19 years old. Grasping the nuances of the NBA takes time, especially when even your physical frame is a work-in-progress.
Ingram busts his ass as much as any other member of the Lakers. He’s not a lockdown defender, but he hustles. Head coach Luke Walton has given him more minutes than anyone else and is quick to compliment is work ethic. It’s too soon to tell whether he’s a future superstar or role player, but whatever he becomes, it’s already clear, at least from watching him, that there is something there.
