Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans will make All-NBA if he does these three things.
The New Orleans Pelicans have two cornerstone players in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, both of whom could be All-NBA players as soon as next season.
Ingram broke out last season, winning the Most Improved Player award and narrowly missing making the All-NBA team.
That’s actually a good thing for the Pelicans, as it saved them some money, but now that Ingram is locked into a max deal, they are hoping he takes the next step to become one of the top-15 players in the league.
Here is how he can do it.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram must get better defensively
Become an average defender
The only thing stopping Ingram from being one of the best wings in the game is his defense. There are too many good two-way wings like Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam for Ingram to make the team as a below-average defender, which he is.
Last season, Jrue Holiday and Josh Hart were often tasked with defending the other team’s best wing because Ingram simply couldn’t. This wasn’t a good scenario, as the Pels were often undersized at the position and still are, which is why wing is still the biggest need after the draft and free agency.
Ingram will be asked to carry the Pels’ offense a lot, so they obviously don’t want to tax him too much on the defensive end, but if he could just become a league-average defender who can guard his own position, that would be great.
There are a lot of guys in the NBA who aren’t great defenders but hardly any of them make an All-NBA team.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram needs to handle the ball more
Handle the ball more
Last season Ingram averaged just over four assists per game, often flashing plus playmaking ability in the process.
He is a very difficult person to defend, as he is so long that he can shoot over just about anyone, so defenders try to get into his body.
This should give him the chance for more dribble penetration, scoring at the rim and opportunities to set up his teammates.
This is especially true in Stan Van Gundy’s offense, in which he will have more responsibility in the pick-and-roll and in initiating the offense.
It would be nice to see Ingram play some at shooting guard as well so that his height would be even more of an advantage. He can shoot over any two-guard and could be an effective weapon starting the offense from the perimeter.
He will be more aggressive with the ball and look more often to get into the paint and set up his teammates, which should help him achieve the final goal.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram needs to shoot more free throws
Get to the free-throw line more often
Whenever you have a guy who shoots 85% from the free-throw line, the goal of the team should be to get him there more often.
Ingram has increased his free-throw attempts every year he’s been in the league, culminating with averaging 5.9 attempts last season.
With defenders forced to close out on Ingram because of his shooting, he should be able to blow by some guys and get to the rim, where he can draw contact.
Guys like Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden all get to the line more than nine times per game, which is how they pad their scoring totals with high percentage shots.
If Brandon Ingram wants to make an All-NBA team he will have to get more freebies at the line. The more he can get to the line, the more defenders will have to respect his dribble penetration which should lead to more open shots.
Brandon Ingram is a special player and has a chance to be one of the best in the league if he can just improve defensively, handle the ball more often and shoot more free throws.
Ingram is already one of the best offensive players in the NBA and with some added nuance to his game, he’ll find himself on the All-NBA team this season.