Expectations were sky high for Los Angeles Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram going into his second season in the league, as president of basketball operations Magic Johnson set a goal of him averaging 20 points per game.
Ingram has gotten off to a slow start this preseason though, struggling to get his shot to fall although he has been a lot more aggressive looking to score.
The 20-year-old has also been dealing with an injury, as he suffered a head contusion in the team’s second preseason game Monday against the Denver Nuggets, which forced him to miss Wednesday’s game.
The injury doesn’t appear to be a serious one though as according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters, Ingram was a full participant in Friday’s practice and has been cleared for Sunday’s game against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas:
*B.I. is officially listed as probable on the injury report for Sunday. Luke said he's cleared, so he'll play as long as he still feels good https://t.co/NdsDFNhnib
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 7, 2017
So far this preseason Ingram has averaged 9.5 points and four rebounds while shooting 29.2 percent from the field, albeit in a very small sample size. Ingram demonstrated what he was capable of in his lone Summer League appearance, scoring 26 points.
The Lakers will be heavily reliant on Ingram this year to take over the scoring role that the Lakers lack after the departures of D’Angelo Russell, Nick Young and Lou Williams.
In addition to his scoring, Ingram is also focused on improving on the defensive end of the floor as he added strength to help with that this offseason. Lakers head coach Luke Walton is confident that Ingram will develop into a great defender.
Whether or not Ingram makes those strides on both ends of the court this season remains to be seen, but he will certainly get his opportunities to prove it beginning Sunday night in Las Vegas.