Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram was excellent down the stretch of last season as he began looking like the potential star the franchise believes he can be. Despite his improved play, however, there is still one major concern on Ingram: his jumper.
Ingram shot only 40.2 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from three-point range last season. Even as his overall play improved after the All-Star break, Ingram’s accuracy from deep worsened.
With Summer League approaching, Ingram will get the chance to show everything he’s been working on. Summer League coach Jud Buechler spoke with Joey Ramirez of Lakers.com and said Ingram has actually made some changes to his jump shot:
“You’re gonna see a big change in Brandon [Ingram] because he’s changed his jump shot a little bit. He’s kind of finely-tuned his jump shot, made a few minor adjustments that I think is gonna help him […] Our assistant coach [Brian Keefe] really did a great job with him and just kind of tweaked a few little things that Brandon brought into and we’ve seen incredible results”
Some may be unaware, but Keefe was previously on the coaching staff of the Oklahoma City Thunder where he often worked with Kevin Durant. Ingram has always drawn comparisons to Durant, and there are very few people who worked as closely with him as Keefe.
The important thing is that Ingram has been working hard to fix his weakness from last season. If Ingram makes significant improvements as a shooter, along with the increased aggression he showed attacking the rim last year, he is going to be very difficult to stop moving forward.
Summer League will be Ingram’s first chance to show off his shooting improvements. The Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday before facing the Boston Celtics on Saturday and the Sacramento Kings next Monday.