Los Angeles Lakers second overall pick Brandon Ingram has come a long way in a short time in his time with the team.
After struggling a bit at the beginning of training camp, Lakers head coach Luke Walton said he would come off the bench to start the season.
Ingram then struggled in his first few preseason games, whether it be because of nerves or not yet adjusting to the professional game, Ingram could not find his shot and didn’t appear to be in ‘attack mode’ the way he was when he played at Duke and averaged 17.3 points per game as a freshman.
Wednesday night marked a big turning point for Ingram though, as he played by far his best game of the preseason despite a 123-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Walton was impressed with Ingram, as he said that he is picking up the NBA game quicker than most, via Mark Medina of Inside Socal:
“Brandon is further along as a basketball player than I would expect any kid coming out of college after one year to be,” Walton said. “As far as since we’ve started, he’s picking up the NBA game rather quickly.”
In 28 minutes off the bench, Ingram led the Lakers with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 7-of-10 shooting.
The 19-year-old played four different positions in the game, including point guard as he ran the offense in the second quarter and did not turn the ball over.
After struggling at the beginning of the preseason, Ingram has seemed to improve and get more comfortable each game.
While he is still going to start the season coming off the bench, Ingram is one of the Lakers young players that are trending in the right direction at the right time as the Lakers open up their season in less than a week.
