Los Angeles Lakers: Players primed to exceed expectations in 2018-19

1. Brandon Ingram

It’s Year 3 for Brandon Ingram, who has flashed elite potential intermittently throughout his first two seasons with the Lakers. The early indications seem to suggest that the Lakers already have the second superstar everyone’s desperate for them to acquire.

The former No. 2 overall pick already took a big step forward as a sophomore. It was a promising effort for the long, athletic forward who people enjoy comparing to a young Kevin Durant. However, as a whole, his second go-around in Los Angeles wasn’t enough to convince Lakers fans that he was living up to the hype.

Well, that’s about to change. More specifically, we should be expecting more big performances like this throughout the 2018-19 campaign:

It’s like something just clicked this offseason. Suddenly, he’s using his unique physical talents to create mismatches, open lanes to the basket and sink shots at an alarming rate. Even his defense has improved by leaps and bounds, and the King loves it. Ingram has shown well through two seasons, but we could witness a whole new monster begin feasting on the rest of the NBA come Oct. 18.

There’s a reason Magic Johnson called Ingram untouchable a couple of offseasons ago. The Slim Reaper is finally ready to unleash his overflowing talents on the rest of the NBA this year, which bodes well for the Lakers’ postseason aspirations.

LeBron may be all the buzz right now, but L.A. will soon be going nuts over the evolution of Ingram.