2016 NBA Draft: How High Is Brandon Ingram’s Potential?

With more and more analysts and NBA Draft experts looking at Brandon Ingram as a potential first overall pick, how high is his true potential?

From the start of the 2015-16 collegiate basketball season everyone was buzzing about “the next LeBron James” in LSU forward Ben Simmons.

Oozing with two-way potential as a playmaker and dominant driving scorer at 6’10”, Simmons had everything in his favor from billboard ads to consistent media coverage.

Brandon Ingram came to Duke with little to none of that. He was a McDonald’s All-American but his praises weren’t sung nearly as high as Simmons’.

Each year we’re reminded just how long the college basketball season is because those prospects who are anointed as the next great players face competition from those who gain proper exposure through consistency and hard work throughout the year.

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Ingram is that guy who’s challenging Simmons for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and for good reason.

In terms of versatility and scoring prowess there’s no one who encompasses those traits more in the prospect field than Ingram.

At 6’9″, Ingram mostly played the power forward spot for a Duke team that was depleted all year in the frontcourt, but in the NBA he’s more of a small forward and even a big shooting guard, depending on who he’s playing alongside of.

No matter where Ingram is on the floor he’s a mismatch nightmare. If he’s playing a smaller position and has shorter defenders on him Ingram has the length to shoot over his man both in the mid-range and from three.

Likewise if he has someone guarding him who’s longer and has the size to contend with Ingram he’s a capable enough ball handler to blitz around his man and finish at the rim or make plays for others.

Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CBB: View Original Table
Generated 3/29/2016.

That last line is key because that’s always one of the biggest questions brought up about players who have a focus on scoring: when the play breaks down, can he find the open man and keep the ball moving?

Ingram did that multiple times in college, both in the halfcourt and in transition. He’s not a maestro with the basketball like Simmons in that regard, but he’s good enough to not turn the ball over off of a trap or close out by the defense.

His 2.0 assists per game may seem pedestrian compared to Simmons’ totals, but just having that ability as a wing is valuable because of the focus placed on players in the NBA these days who are between 6’6″ and 6’8″. Teams want guys who can score from all areas on the floor, keep the ball moving and switch properly on defense.

The good news for any team picking high in the lottery is that Ingram has the ability to do all of those things making him as hot of a commodity in the draft as Simmons.

So if Ingram is such a good talent already, why is Simmons higher on almost everyone’s draft boards?

Simmons is a jump shot and serious motor away from being a superstar at this very moment. He already has the body, toughness and basketball IQ to compete at a high level in the NBA from the jump, and if he can prove his doubters wrong in workouts and team meetings during the pre-draft process then there’s no question he’ll go first overall.

Ingram has a lot of great scoring and offensive tools in his arsenal, and he tries and competes on defense, but physically and mentally he still has a long way to go just like Simmons.

But what’s important to remember is that Ingram is almost a full year younger than Simmons, so where he’s at now having to add strength and muscle to his body isn’t a terrible thing. Sometimes we have to remember that most of these kids are only 18 or 19 years old and that they deserve our patience as they develop into who they truly are as NBA stars and role players.

How high is Ingram’s potential? He’s had a lot of comparisons to Kevin Durant because of his length and scoring touch from the perimeter. I like the comparison, but I also don’t love throwing big names like Durant’s around when talking about young gunners like Ingram.

He’s 18 years old and has a lot of hard work to put in if he wants to have his name mentioned in the same breath as a Durant. But the ceiling for Ingram is very high because of where the league is currently at.

Wings like Ingram are as hot of a commodity as point guards who can balance shooting and distributing the ball and bigs who can stretch the floor and protect the rim. The era of “pace and space” is fully upon us and like it or not the game has evolved and will keep perfecting itself when compared to how it was in the past.

The gap has virtually closed between Simmons and Ingram. Let’s see who separates themselves in these months leading up to the draft.

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But there’s no question Ingram deserves to hold a spot right next to Simmons in terms of potential.