Los Angeles Lakers: 5 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season
Brandon Ingram wins Most Improved Player award
Ball may not win any hardware, but that doesn’t mean his teammates won’t either.
Magic and the Lakers are very high on Brandon Ingram heading into 2017-18. There’s a reason he was made the team’s only “untouchable” this offseason, and it’s not because of his good looks. No, it’s because he’s a former No. 2 overall pick with a sky-high ceiling.
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This upcoming season, we’re going to see Ingram take a big step toward reaching that ceiling. It’ll be a night-and-day difference between his rookie and sophomore campaigns. The improvement will be so apparent that, when all is said and done, Ingram will have rightfully earned the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.
It would be a pretty elite group of players he’d be joining by winning the honor. In the last five years, Giannis Antetokounmpo, C.J. McCollum, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic and Paul George have earned the designation. If Ingram can turn out anything like any of those players, the Lakers will be thanking their lucky stars.
The Lakers knew they had a good one in Ingram, but we’ve yet to see just how good he can be. Before the 2017-18 season is in the books, we’ll have a much clearer idea of what type of star he’s quickly developing into.