The black-and-gold sign in the corner of Staples Center where the 2019-20 NBA Championship banner will finally hang says, “Stay tuned, Lakers family.”
Before the Lakers traded for Anthony Davis, they told their fans to stay for years. This is the nature of rebuilding, lottery after lottery with young player after young player is celebrated as the next piece that will bring your team one step closer to a title.
It’s impossible to know what would have happened if general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers had decided to keep up with their young players, if they tried to continue to develop Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, instead of trading them.
While the flag for staples at Staples Center is proof that the Lakers made the right decision to turn their future around for Davis, Ingram in particular is a special piece for another team looking to find its own championship.
While the uniform is different, the look looks exactly the same: the noodle arms not thicker than any of its braids, the headband and long legs sliding around Staples Center as it is again from 2018.
But the version of Ingram who took the court with the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night is a very different player than the one who left, and the potential is realized at an alarming rate while having an All-Star season. trying to build up what ended with him. to win the award for the most improved player.
‘He’s a very, very hard worker, very committed to becoming a very good player, a very good teammate. “Come and work his butt off every day,” Pelicans new coach Stan Van Gundy told a video conference Friday. “There was no surprise. It had all been good. He was as good as advertised, which was very good. ”
Last season, Ingram’s outburst was fueled by a three-point sample season, and the 6-foot-8 forward turned into a huge volume threat from deep down that made nearly 40% after three years of a reluctant three-point shot with the Lakers.
While those numbers dropped early this season, his playmaking and bounce increased as he displayed the offensive skills that led the Lakers to him as no. 2 in the 2016 draft.
Highlights of the Lakers’ 112-95 victory Friday night over the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was all seen early Friday, with Ingram hitting eight of nine strokes in the first half, including a silky, spinning middle-distance jumper over Kyle Kuzma – the kind of move that apparently extends five years, $ 158 million, justify. he signed with the Pelicans in November.
Ingram made just one of six hits in the second half to finish with 20 points, and the Lakers won 112-95. Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before the game: ‘Their team is better than them [4-6] record suggests. ”
In addition to 20-year-old Zion Williamson, the no. A 2019 pick that exposes some of the Lakers’ inner holes that JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard left in the off-season, the 23-year-old Ingram gives the Pelicans the Pelicans their core for life without Davis. Ball, with knee pain, did not play Friday, with Hart in the starting lineup.
“He gradually got better and better,” Lakers guard Alex Caruso said of his former teammate Ingram. ‘Even last year he started walking before he left LA … And I know the worker he is, because I would see him practice and practice every day, and I’m sure he does the same thing in the off-season. He looks like one of those guys who has just that drive and loves to get better and be in the gym and work on his job.
“I’m not surprised he’s there. Maybe surprised at how fast he got there, but that’s probably just proof of how hard he worked. ‘
The Lakers got what they wanted when they traded Ingram to New Orleans, and the golden banner at Staples Center is the proof.
But it cost a fortune – and Ingram enjoyed just reminding the Lakers of what they had to pay to make the championship happen.
Three takeaways after the victory of the Lakers
- After struggling to get into the Pelicans, the Lakers’ defensive intensity skyrocketed in the second half, helping them blow out New Orleans.
- The impact of Alex Caruso extends beyond the score, but one that is measurable, his shooting, is still impressive. He hit all three of his shots from deep.
- Even on a short night for Anthony Davis (five-for-16 shooting), the Lakers scored many points thanks to six players in double figures.