30. Brandon Ingram
What is Ingram, other than the heir to the John Stockton School of On-Court NBA Fashion?
It’s rare that the stock of a top-three pick falls so hard when he really hasn’t been a disappointment. Everyone knew last year was going to be a poop-fest of massive proportions, and it was. This season, Ingram has shown flashes of what got him drafted second overall, albeit in a weak draft. He’s one of only nine players to average 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals per game while hitting a third of their 3s.
Yeah, okay, fine…I shoehorned in his stats to make a point. Except that the other seven guys with those numbers are LeBron, KD, Boogie, Victor Oladipo, Marc Gasol, Nikola Jokic, Paul George and the always underrated Nikola Vucevic. He’s putting up these numbers while upping his true shooting percentage nearly 50 points from last year (it’s only 52.1, which isn’t great, but still…progress) and taking his usage rate from 16.8 to 21.9. He’s also remains one of the youngest players in the league.
More than any of this, he offers as much positional versatility as anyone in the league. There is no position it’s impossible to see him playing some day.
The doubts come mostly from Ingram having his fair share of nights where he seems like a nonentity on the floor. The defense has yet to become a positive. Most of all though, he just doesn’t scream star when you watch him play.
That’s fine. With what the Lakers have planned, they may not need him to be one.