Podcast: Can Brandon Ingram become a lockdown defender?

As exciting and impactful as LeBron James will be for the Los Angeles Lakers, the team and organization’s true ceiling is arguably going to be decided by whether each member of the young core lives up to their potential. As it’s probably Brandon Ingram who holds the most promise, it’s him we should be watching most closely.

If what we saw Sunday evening is any indication of things to come, the Lakers might just be all right. But it starts on the end most don’t watch closely enough: On defense.

Ingram has a lot of what you’d like to see from a defender: Length, athleticism, competitiveness, work ethic and a head for the game. Yes, you’d like to see a little more strength, but that can come with time. He checks plenty of boxes.

Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets, Ingram showcased those physical and mental tools potentially starting to translate to defensive impact on the game around him. There’s still quite a ways to go, but there was plenty to get excited about.

To discuss this and a ton else about the game from the Lakers perspective, I welcomed Adam Mares, who hosts Locked on Nuggets on a daily basis and also hosts Locked on NBA with me. This was a crossover podcast, so you’ll want to listen to part two as well, which will be over on his show’s feed.

We also spent ample time discussing what LeBron playing as the biggest Laker on the court might mean for the style of play the team might utilize this year. Again, stuff can change between now and the beginning of the regular season, but if we’re going off of Sunday evening, the Lakers are going to play small and fast. Should be fun.

As always, this is just a tidbit of the full context given in the show. Listen to the full discussion below and please check out old episodes, or guarantee you won’t miss any ever again by subscribing on iTunes.