Brandon Ingram Discussion: He Is Who We Thought He Could Be

I'm okay with it given the context. This summer is a different story, but considering our offer was something like Ingram/Russell or Ingram/Randle or Russell/Randle when the next best offer stars Buddy Hield... I'll pass. We're not going to get good value.

This summer though, if we keep the Top 3 pick I would probably be willing to part with a lot of combinations in order to bring in that guy from Indiana.

 

So if we don't have two Durants, we are set back? Hmm.

 

I think it's too early to say what he will be, but not too early to say what he isn't going to be Durant.

It takes a mindset to be Durant and Ingram doesn't have that. That's not a criticism, it's just a fact. I love what Ingram can do on the floor, but he isn't as aggressive and nasty as Durant was/is.

Durant as a rookie had just 2 games where he shot the ball under 10 times. Ingram has had 46 games shooting under 10 times. For both players, they played less than 12 minutes in one of those games, but that doesn't really help Ingram's case. Keep in mind Ingram has only played 64 games thus far and Durant played in 80 games his rookie year.

Now, he's doing other things at a better level than Durant than score. Ingram so far is a bit better rebounder. Durant averaged 4.4 to Ingram's 4.1, but Per36 stats show Ingram at 5.2 to Kevin's 4.5 rebounds per game (Durant played roughly 6 more minutes per game). Ingram is also a more efficient passer with an assist to turnover ratio of 2:1.4 compared to Durant's 2.5:3 ratio. Something that might be most encouraging is that Durant was 0.7/2.6 per game from deep his rookie year (28.8%) and Ingram is eerily similar at 0.7/2.4 per game (30.1%) from deep. Durant jumped to 42.2% the next season and hasn't dropped below 35% since then. Hopefully Ingram can follow that path.

That being said, Durant took more shots, made more shots, scored more points, was more efficient overall, blocked more shots, stole more balls... Durant is a different level of player due in no small part to his mindset on the floor. Ingram isn't that guy. That's not to say he can't be really, really, really good in different ways, but he's just not Durant.

 

I'm saying that if this team needs TWO Durants or Leonards to avoid a "setback for years," then we're almost certainly going to be set back for years. That's an insanely high standard.

 

NBA Development League has an All Star Game?

 

abeer I think is saying a rich man's Prince. That's kind of what I'm starting to believe too. To Real's point, he's not an alpha which Prince wasn't either. But he is more offensively talented than Prince. I think he can be a player who averages 18 a game and does little Prince-y things on the floor to where Prince averaged around 13 or 14 a game during his prime stretch.

The more I see of our youngsters, the more I am starting to think that Ball might be exactly what we need. This team doesn't have a leader. Ball, from what little I have seen of him, seems like a perfect fit next to Russell and Ingram.

But I think Randle and Clarkson need to be traded for better fits.

 

I'll put it this way: I think Ball would be a good fit next to either Randle or Russell (better with Russell), but increasingly I'm thinking one of those kids will not be here next season. It remains to be seen which and could still be both. That's assuming we keep the pick. If we lose the pick, I'm not sure we move any of the young kids.

Someone brought up the stats for Ingram compared to a modern star. Here's the Per Games:

Player A: 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.4 blocks, 0.7 turnovers, 49.3 FG% (3.1/6.3), 37.6 3PT% (0.6/1.7)
Player B: 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.4 blocks, 1.4 turnovers, 37.7 FG% (3/7.9), 30.1 3PT% (0.7/2.4)

And here's the Per36:

Player A: 11.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2 steals, 0.6 blocks, 1 turnover
Player B: 10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks, 1.8 turnovers

Player A is Kawhi. He played only 24 minutes per game his rookie year compared to Ingram's 28.4 minutes. Kawhi was also 20 years old coming into the NBA compared to Ingram's 19 years. The most interesting thing is Kawhi played only 64 games that season (started 39 of them). As of today Brandon has played exactly 64 games (starting 25 of them). Look at their totals through this point in their careers:

Minutes played- Kawhi (1534) vs. Ingram (1820)
FGm/FGa- Kawhi (199/404) vs. Ingram (191/507)
3Pm/3Pa- Kawhi (41/109) vs. Ingram (47/156)
FTm/FTa- Kawhi (68/88) vs. Ingram (103/164)
ORB/DRB- Kawhi (104/223) vs. Ingram (46/216)
Assists- Kawhi (70) vs. Ingram (129)
Steals- Kawhi (85) vs. Ingram (29)
Blocks- Kawhi (24) vs. Ingram (27)
Turnovers- Kawhi (44) vs. Ingram (89)
Fouls- Kawhi (88) vs. Ingram (127)
Points- Kawhi (507) vs. Ingram (532)

 

You're right. Ingram's shooting per month:
October- 8/18 (44.4%)
November- 44/128 (34.4%)
December- 43/128 (33.6%)
January- 46/122 (37.7%)
February- 38/88 (43.2%)
March- 12/24 (50%)

As for Julius, his offensive rebounding numbers have taken a slight dip from 2.1 to 1.9 and his FGm have increased by 0.6 per game so you may be right there too. Basically Julius is making half a shot more per game which increased his FG% by about 5.5% overall. Still, the place where Julius lost the most in his rebounding numbers is the defensive glass, not offensive. His defensive rebounding numbers have gone from 8.1 to 6.7 per game. Part of that is scheme and part of it is him not doing it. His DRB% has fluctuated quite a bit this season, but he's been very good this month. His best overall month actually was January followed by November.