Lakers Free Agency Rumors: Two reasons to avoid Kawhi Leonard
By Keith Rivas
If Brandon Ingram really is all that, then LA won’t need Kawhi Leonard
Yeah, you read that right.
The same can really be applied to the closer free agency decision that Paul George will get to make in the summertime, and the premise still stands. Los Angeles didn’t draft Brandon Ingram second overall in 2016 for nothing, so why should we expect them to give up on him playing as a starter in a time where he’ll be entering his fourth year in the league.
His sophomore season has shown some promise, while not necessarily on the hype or execution sides that Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma have been showing us, but there’s still plenty of room to grow.
Ingram started only 40 out of 79 games played last season, and he’s already matched that starting games total thus far before the All-Star break. He’s taking about four more shots per game, while connecting on an average of two more per contest with a minutes extension bumped up from 28 to 33, respectively.
He went from averaging less than ten points per game in his rookie year to now putting up a hair beneath 16 points per game for the Lakers.
Ingram either is the cornerstone type of player that they drafted him to be or he’s not. And if the Lakers believe that he isn’t, or at least falls significantly short of expectations placed on him, don’t you think they would’ve traded him already?
This same front office was quick to jump off of D’Angelo Russell’s boat, so there shouldn’t be any hesitation in dealing Ingram if they truly feel he’s not going to be part of the best pieces to the puzzle for this franchise in the long run.
Long story short, even if Ingram does terrible in his third year, the Lakers will make a move with him before Leonard is even a free agent, but only if they’re satisfied with the return. If not, they’ll have likely already invested in somebody like Paul George to not have to worry about Leonard.