From the moment Brandon Ingram first donned a New Orleans Pelicans jersey, he emerged as a star on the court. Entering year five on the Pelicans, Ingram continues to grow, hoping to build off of a career year in 2022-23. Though he hasn’t made an All-Star team since 2020, Ingram posted career highs in points, assists and usage rate last season, continuing to progress in all areas of basketball.
Scoring Efficiency is His Forte
At this point, Ingram has solidified himself as a well-rounded offensive star, capable of carrying the load by himself at times. Ingram scored at a career-high rate (26.5 points per 75 possessions) while maintaining solid efficiency. He’s become an excellent foul drawer, allowing him to maintain league-average true shooting marks despite his increasing offensive load.
Ingram is at his best working off of other stars. He isn’t a top-shelf on-ball creator as Ingram doesn’t create easy shots or make difficult shots like some of the NBA’s very best offensive players. When Ingram can attack off of Zion Williamson or any other Pelican creating offensive pressure, he is deadly. His ball-handling fluidity, long strides and touch make him a nightmare to guard attacking off of the catch.
Over the last two seasons, Ingram’s approach seems to have changed, his three-point attempt rate plummeting to 19.6% of his overall shots last year (compared to 35% of his shots in 2019-20). While he’s still a marksman — Ingram made 39% of his threes last season — he doesn’t take nearly as many triples as before, focusing on high-volume mid-range scoring. Some of this has been out of necessity as pull-up three-point shooting has never been a strength of Ingram’s. Zion Williamson’s absence especially has necessitated more shot creation from Ingram and the mid-range is where he does that best.
B.I. The Distributor
The Pelicans have entrusted Ingram with more playmaking responsibility and he’s responded well, molding himself into a sound wing passer. He makes every read out of the pick and roll, comfortable slinging passes over defenders with his height and length and laying them down to bigs and cutters. The game has slowed down for Ingram as his patience has increased, forcing fewer and fewer bad shots.
That playmaking growth has allowed New Orleans to trust Ingram as a full-time primary creator when Zion Williamson is off of the floor. Though Ingram is at his best playing off of other offensive stars, the offensive versatility he brings has proved invaluable.
An Improving Defender
Ingram’s defense continues to progress as well as he ages. Defensive metrics view his defense fairly positively over the last two seasons, with Estimated Plus-Minus grading him in the top half of NBA defenders. Ingram has learned how to weaponize his size and length, improving as an off-ball defender. He’s more active and aware now, rotating down to help out his teammates and clogging driving/passing lanes with his long arms.
Bigger and stronger drivers can punish Ingram’s lack of strength, dislodging him off of position. These athletic limitations have always pigeonholed his on-ball versatility as Ingram can struggle guarding powerful forwards or the quickest guards. But Ingram’s defense is no longer a concern for New Orleans and when the playoffs come around, he can hang on the floor and add value with his length and off-ball defense.
If New Orleans returns to the postseason in 2024, Ingram’s offense will be a critical piece of that puzzle. When the game slows down, teams need bucket-getters, especially ones with the off-ball skill that Ingram possesses.
Written by contributor Ben Pfeifer.
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He has the skills, but will he have the consistent effort? How many times have you seen BI chase down someone from behind? (Zero) How many times have you seen BI miss a shot and not get back (Too many times). How many times have you seen a more aggressive player capture a rebound that BI should have gathered (Too often). He is an elite offensive player as a shooter with a rapidly developing skillset as a playmaker, but he is inconsistent in other areas of the game.
That being said, I think BI is the type of player who has a very, very high ceiling at 32 to 36 minutes a game, but his level of play falls off sharply when he is called to play more minutes than that (particularly as the season goes on). Which is why players like Trey (when healed), Hawk and even Naji have to step up.
Good article by the way.