The Los Angeles Lakers were fortunate to land the second pick in the 2016 NBA draft, which they used to select lanky forward Brandon Ingram out of Duke. A young rookie, Ingram had barely turned 19 when the 2016-2017 NBA season began and went through his fair share of growing pains as he attempted to adapt to the professional game.
Over the summer, Ingram has focused on getting stronger so that he can better absorb contact at the rim while also improving his jump shot. He spent some time with Spectrum SportsNet and explained what his personal goals are for next season:
Personally I think I just want to show a big improvement. On the offensive end, on the defensive end I think the repetitions I got this year on the shots I didn’t do so well at and shots that were kind of forceful, the things I didn’t do well I think I’ve kind of tried to correct them this summer. I just feel more comfortable going into this season.
Coming out of college, the knock on Ingram was that he was so skinny that he would easily get pushed around against the grown men dominating the NBA. Those concerns did prove to be accurate, as Ingram struggled to finish in the paint.
However, he does possess an incredible 7’3″ wingspan that should eventually allow him to score over defenders as long as he is strong enough to absorb a little contact.
His three-point shooting was also thought to be a plus coming out of college, but it never manifested last season and he hit just 29 percent from deep. He’s a versatile player who already showed some impressive skill as a playmaker, and if the work he put in over the summer on his shooting pays off, he’s going to be very difficult to stop next season.