Is Brandon Ingram a bust?

After following Brandon Ingram's rookie season now for 50 games it seems appropriate to begin to ask this question:  For someone taken with the #2 pick in the draft, is it possible to already consider him a bust?  I wouldn't be asking this question if he was taken in the middle of the first round but anyone drafted second should produce some fairly immediate positive results.  Based on his season so far, Brandon Ingram has been a serious disappointment, and possibly headed toward an official "bust" label.

Let's examine:  He was supposed to be a terrific shooter with legitimate three point range and at 6'9" should also benefit from getting a bunch of dunks to pad his shooting percentage.  So what's he shooting so far this year after 50 games?  An abominable 35.8%.  And he's getting a healthy 28 minutes per game to give him adequate playing time to adjust to the pro game.  How's his three point shooting?  We can note that at 28.4% he's worse than Marcus Smart.  Yikes.

When his shots aren't falling - and that's been the case for virtually the whole season, does he contribute in other ways?  Nope.  His rebounding numbers are atrocious for a 6'9" player - one rebound every seven minutes.  202 in 1394 minutes played.  For a player of his height, jumping ability and quickness he should average a rebound every four or five minutes.  Does he pass well?  Nope.  He's averaging a puny 2 assists per game.  Does he block shots?  Nope.  He's got 21 blocks for the ENTIRE season for an average of 0.4 per game.

Suffice it to say, he's having a very rough start to his pro career and if it's too early to call him a bust, by this time next year, if he doesn't improve considerably from this level of averaging eight points, four rebounds and two assists, he will be well on his way to becoming a bust considering he was picked at #2.  His last two games after having nearly two thirds of the season under his belt sure don't give you confidence he is getting any better:  in 40 minutes combined against Portland and Utah he went 0 for 11, zero points. Ouch.

First of all, I think it is premature to describe Brandon Ingram as "a bust".  He's 1/2 season into an NBA career that could, barring injury, last a decade-and-a-half.

Having said that, I think it is safe to say he is struggling.  I don't think the comparison to Jaylen Brown is fair neither.  Jaylen Brown is on a team with an established veteran SF.  That has cut into his minutes which is also delaying his development.  Ingram is starting and is averaging 27.9mpg.  He should be further ahead than Brown since he is getting the minutes on the floor to get that development while Brown isn't.  The fact that he isn't is what is provoking the question about "bust?".

/36mpg....................Ingram.....vs.....Brown

Points.......................10.3.................13.0
FGA..........................10.0.................11.6
FG%.........................35.8%..............43.5%
3ptFGA......................3.0...................2.8
3ptFG%.....................28.4%...............29.8%
FTA...........................3.4...................3.0
FT%..........................67.2%...............70%
TRB...........................5.2...................5.6
ASTs..........................2.6...................1.6
TOs............................1.7..................1.8
STLs...........................0.6..................0.7
BLKs...........................0.5..................0.7


So, when you look at their stats they are almost identical.  Where Ingram falls behind a bit is that he came into the league as the best shooter in the lottery and Brown came in as an athletic defender who had limited outside offense and the numbers show that Ingram is not living up to his hype.  Yet.

My issue with Ingram, and I watched the Laker game against Utah last night, isn't that he isn't hitting his shots.  Brown has been missing layups.  This is what happens with rookies, the game is too fast for them so they rush their shots.  My concern with Ingram is his body.  He's 6'9" - 6'10", 190-195#.  RJ Hunter isn't in the league because he wasn't hitting his shots, and he isn't a highly touted lottery pick, but also because he was 6'6" but only 195#.  Ingram is the same weight but 3-4" taller.  Look at his legs.  MY legs are bigger than his and I am not built like a fireplug.  He's young, 19 1/2 years old, and he's playing a lot of minutes.  He has 1394 minutes already and we're only halfway done.  His bones have outgrown his soft tissue and he's pounding on them heavily now, playing against MEN who are MUCH heavier and stronger than him.

Rookies are rarely "busts".  They might be "busts-in-training" but they aren't there yet.  Ingram needs another year or two for the game to slow down for him and Luke Walton should cut back on his minutes.  In the long run I think that would produce the best results for the Laker hopeful.


bob


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