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Luke Walton felt bad for punishing Brandon Ingram. The Los Angeles Lakers were down by 30 -- THIRTY! -- points at halftime to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, so he decided an entirely new five-man unit would start the second half. That meant that Ingram, who had been playing his best basketball of his short professional career, would be lumped in with the guys who weren’t playing with pride.
“It [stinks] for you that you have to sit out, too,” Walton told Ingram, via Mark Medina of the Orange County Register. “You’re out there playing your tail off.”
Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell didn’t think Ingram deserved it. Walton admitted it was “unfair,” but said it was part of Ingram’s responsibility to get everybody else ready to play. Even as a 19-year-old rookie, apparently.
“Even if you’re playing well yourself, we need more out of you,” Walton said. “Grab someone by the jersey, lift your teammates up. It was more his work ethic that allows him to be that guy. I don’t know how vocal he’s ever going to get. But we’re going to keep pushing him to keep seeing what we can get out of him with that side of the leadership role.”
Walton, who raved about Ingram’s effort at practice Wednesday, said that Ingram “looked mad, but he should’ve been mad” about the benching. Not that it ended up mattering that much -- he still played a game-high 40 minutes and finished with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Through 71 games, Ingram is still a bit of a conundrum. He has played a lot of point forward, but is perhaps most exciting as a prospect when he sees an opening and attacks the basket, using his cartoon-character length to finish in traffic. His shooting was supposed to be a strength, but his percentages on the season -- 39.8 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from 3-point range, 61.7 percent from the free-throw line -- do not inspire confidence. His all-around tools are as enticing as ever, though, and in his last nine games he has averaged 15.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 52.8 percent. It’s not clear what kind of player he’ll become, but Walton is holding him to a high standard for good reason.
| 1 | 
Dario Saric
Philadelphia PF
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Last week: 1 I thought about dropping Saric out of the top spot because he hasn’t shot that well in the past week. The great thing about Saric, though, is that his overall effect on the Sixers doesn’t have that much to do with his shooting. He pushes the ball in transition, facilitates in the halfcourt and competes on defense. He also had one of his better games of the season on Sunday, keying a rally to beat the Celtics. | |
| 2 | 
Brandon Ingram
L.A. Lakers SF
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Last week: 9 It has been a big week for Ingram. After the Lakers came close to beating the Cavaliers, LeBron James offered some praise: “Kid has a lot of talent. The more he plays, the more and more he is going to get more comfortable out there. He has the in-between game, can handle the ball. He shot a couple long balls tonight and that worked for him, too.” | |
| 3 | 
Buddy Hield
Sacramento SG
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Last week: 7 The Kings are losing like crazy, but that was part of the plan when they traded DeMarcus Cousins for a package headlined by Hield. The rookie has exceeded any reasonable expectations in Sacramento, and he tied his career high with 21 points against the Bucks on Wednesday. He plays with the confidence on offense that you’d hope would come with having the green light at all times. | |
| 4 | 
Marquese Chriss
Phoenix PF
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Last week: Unranked The Suns are blatantly tanking and Chriss has benefited more than anybody. Last week he followed up a 17-point, seven-rebound, five-block performance with 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Against the Heat on Tuesday, he had 24 points on 7-for-9 shooting, plus seven boards and two steals, going 2-for-2 from deep and 8-for-10 from the line. He also had five fouls and six turnovers, and he still doesn’t quite know where to be on defense, but that’s OK. The end of the season is about seeing how Chriss and Phoenix’s other young players respond to increased minutes and responsibility. | |
| 5 | 
Ivica Zubac
L.A. Lakers C
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Last week: 5 The Lakers center has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games, and his touch around the basket continues to be encouraging. It’s unclear how Zubac will fit in Walton’s system long-term, but he’s trying to make the right passes and his teammates appear to have confidence in him. | |
| 6 | 
Malcolm Brogdon
Milwaukee SG
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Last week: 6 Saric appears to have separated himself from Brogdon in the Rookie of the Year race, but it’s not like the Bucks rookie has stopped producing. Much has been made of his poise, passing and defensive versatility, but his shooting also deserves recognition -- he is making 40.6 percent of his 3-pointers, a better mark than he ever had in college. | |
| 7 | 
Skal Labissiere
Sacramento PF
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Last week: 2 While Labissiere hasn’t been able to duplicate his 32-point performance against the Suns last week, he has continued to make the most of his playing time as Sacramento experiments with different lineups. Per 36 minutes, he is averaging 19.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks with a 62 percent true shooting percentage. | |
| 8 | 
Tyler Ulis
Phoenix PG
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Last week: Unranked With Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight done for the year, Ulis is basically playing 40 minutes every night now. This has been an awesome opportunity for him, and he has been fearless with the ball in his hands. He hasn’t been all that efficient, however, and his poor 3-point shooting is a concern. | |
| 9 | 
Jamal Murray
Denver SG
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Last week: 3 The Nuggets count on Murray for a scoring punch off the bench, and he has been providing them exactly that with consistency. I love his chemistry with Nikola Jokic and the way he can get hot out of nowhere. After a few costly turnovers against the Rockets, Murray didn’t commit a single turnover in Wednesday’s impressive win against Cleveland. | |
| 10 | 
Juan Hernangomez
Denver PF
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Last week: Unranked This last spot came down to the two Hernangomez brothers, and I’m giving it to Juancho because he’s been the more efficient player lately. His minutes in Denver are inconsistent, but his two games against Houston -- where he had 15 points and five rebounds in each -- were a persuasive argument for more playing time. | |
