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

Don't want to get banned, so... let's call it pathetic.

 

It's concerning when you look at other rookies who have been consistent and playing well.

 

0 points? Wow

Shoot Tarik Black had 4 in 30 minutes.

Something serious is going on, and playing music at practice isn't going to solve it.

 

i'm not concerned about ingram. he's super young, both in terms of experience and physicality. he's shown enough flashes on both ends to not be worried about him being a solid player.

now, if we're worrying about the lakers not having a superstar in the bunch...that's legitimate. but i guess that puts them in the same boat as about 25 other teams.

 

Do something, do it now.

 

^ rookie of the year

 

Rookie, meet wall.

 

The Lakers have had 3 cracks at it the last 3 drafts with the #7, #2 and #2 picks and I think it's fair to be concerned that while they got really talented players who were worthy of their draft slots, that there isn't that "Face of the Franchise" who can lead the Lakers back into the upper echelon in the Post-Kobe era. It's not even just about on-court production but I wonder if any of them have the desire, the fire, the leadership, the work ethic, the temperament to be the leader this team needs. If Ingram starts to develop a voice as he develops his game/body, I see him as the most likely of the group.

 

the lakers are doing well in terms of expected value by draft slot. there's only a handful of franchise players in the league, meaning you're not guaranteed even one in any given draft. the lakers got lucky by not losing their pick entirely in the last two, but were also quite unlucky in that the #1 picks were the ones people could agree had superstar potential.

russell and ingram look likely to outperform a typical #2 pick, and randle has already outperformed typical #7s (or close--i'd have to look). nance and clarkson have blown away their draft slots.

what you're seeing is that the build through the draft strategy isn't a viable one. can it happen? sure. is it likely? no--because it depends too much on luck. philly's taken several swings at it, and their current best bet is a guy who's already had to miss two full seasons.

sadly, it's looking like the lakers are going to have several more lotto swings, as they're not even close to being competitive right now. eventually, they might hit one, but even then, you could be sac and get a franchise talent who's insane or portland who got a franchise talent who was broken.

aannnnd mad about the paul trade again.

 

These new "Lakers" are a real challenge for Lakers fans . We are used to have so many greats players through the franchise history .

It's tough to process and accept we have become a common franchise like many others ... and as of now being (rightfully) being worried we are going to suck for many years

 

if "worry" implies uncertainty...i'm not worried. i'm pretty sure jim buss should have doubled his timeline.

 

Ingram will be a top 5-10 player, IMO. He's 19; he will be just fine.

 

Those are two different issues, though.

I don't equate being vocal to what he can be offensively; he might not ever be the vocal leader that we have seen in the past from the Laker greats, and that's fine.

Offensively, I think he will be the complete package. It will take 2-3 seasons, but it will be worth the wait.