For the second consecutive season the Los Angeles Lakers had the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, and after selecting point guard D’Angelo Russell out of Ohio State in 2015 this year they decided to go with Duke forward Brandon Ingram.
Ingram averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in his lone season at Duke. Overall he shot 44.2 percent from the field while shooting 41 percent from three-point range.
While he has yet to play an NBA game, Ingram has already impressed a lot of people in the organization with both his play in the Summer League and in practice.
One guy in particular that he has impressed is Metta World Peace, who is heading into his 17th NBA season. At Lakers Media Day on Monday World Peace said that Ingram has more tools and is more skilled than he was at the same age:
At his age, he’s way more skilled. When I was his age I didn’t have all of the tools he has -MWP on @B_Ingram13 (via @SpectrumSN)
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) September 26, 2016
The Lakers recently brought World Peace back to Los Angeles on a training camp deal. As was the case in 2015, he will have to beat out some younger players if he wants to make the roster.
Last year, World Peace appeared in 35 games for the Lakers, starting in five, and averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds.
Both World Peace and Ingram’s roles with the team this season are currently unclear, although head coach Luke Walton recently said that Ingram will likely come off the bench to start the season. At Media Day Walton retracted that statement in a way, saying that Ingram will start if he’s the best player on the court.