Pelicans: Brandon Ingram needs to have a career year on defense

Forgive me if I sound like a broken record but Brandon Ingram needs to become more of a two-way player to take the leap and become a perennial All-Star, not only for his sake but for the New Orleans Pelicans. The best wings in the NBA today are guys who can take over on either end of the floor, like Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, and Jayson Tatum (at this point in his career LeBron James is a point guard, further defying the normal aging process).

Pels fans heard this repeated over and over last season as former head coach Stan Van Gundy would preach time and time again the Ingram and Zion Williamson needed to have an impact on both ends of the floor to truly be great. The rub here is the Ingram has already proven to be an at least average defender in his career.

Ingram’s second season in the NBA, 2018-19, garnered a -0.3 Defensive Box Plus Minus from Basketball-Reference. This may not seem like anything to write home about given Ingram was still a net negative on the defensive end of the floor during this stretch. However, if Ingram can keep his offensive game at the level we’ve seen over the last two years this would represent a marked improvement in his overall game.

Last year Ingram put up a 3.6 Offensive Box Plus Minus, which was good for second-highest for the New Orleans Pelicans. That rating is supposed to tell you how much better a player is than average per 100 possessions. It’s worth reminding you dear reader, that Ingram went from the focal point of the offense for most of his first year in New Orleans to clear second banana last season (Ingram had a 2.5 Offensive Box Plus Minus his first year in NOLA).

Mind you Ingram put up a 23.8 points/6.1 rebounds/4.2 assists stat line in 2019-20 while Zion missed most of the year and a 23.8 point/4.9 rebounds/4.9 assists stat line in 2020-21. He did this while gradually losing hold of his grip on the reigns as the premier player in the offense. If Ingram can become more effective per 100 possessions while not carrying as much of a burden offensively that would be huge for the Pels.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram needs to have a career year on defense

New Orleans will have a weakness on the wings this season even with Josh Hart, Trey Murphy, Naji Marshall, and (hopefully) Herb Jones doing everything they can to slow down opponents. It’s nothing against these four, just saying Ingram and Zion (he still has room to grow, don’t at me until 2023) have been negatives on defense during their time in the Crescent City.

I’m cutting Zion a little slack here because learning NBA-level defenses takes a while and his workload on the offensive end is a lot. Ingram, on the other hand, has had plenty of time to learn the basics of what coaches desire on the defensive end. I’m aware that Ingram is on his fourth coach in just six seasons, but the trait coaches want to see most is effort and Ingram just isn’t locked in on that end.

For New Orleans to really make a jump this season Ingram will need to be the best he’s ever been on defense while putting up similar numbers on offense as he has during his time in New Orleans. I’m not worried about the offensive end, not many players in the league have Ingram’s capabilities on offense. At 6’8″ with handles that would make most guards blush Ingram is a poor man’s Kevin Durant.

Ingram is capable of taking nearly any player off the dribble and proved a few times last season, strong enough to attack multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year award winners. These gains on the offensive end are overshadowed by his stagnation at best and regression at worst on the defensive end.

The New Orleans Pelicans need Ingram to be a capable defensive player next season as he would give the Pels a legitimate two-way threat that all teams would need to reckon with. This would be a huge step in establishing Ingram as an All-NBA candidate for the next half-decade like the Pelicans hope he will be (we haven’t seen any hype videos of Ingram shooting threes this summer so hopefully he’s really putting in the work and not just focused on getting likes on Twitter).

If Ingram were able to combine his best offensive and defensive season for the Pels in 2021-22, he’d be a shoo-in for an All-Star nomination if not All-NBA consideration. I get it, the level of play of the top wings in today’s NBA is ridiculous but someone will have a down year and there’s already one player who is normally written in pen on the ballet that will miss the season (Kawhi Leonard). If there were a time for Ingram to make the leap this coming season would be it.