Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
Just looking at the stats you've given (which aren't even that representative because Ingram at age 21 was in his third career season, whereas most of these other guys had been in the NBA less time)
Ingram has the worst steals percentage of everyone by a fairly large margin, the third worst block percentage, the second worst rebounding percentage, the third worst TS%, out of 10 candidates.
So what you're saying is that he's solidly in the bottom half of all those players, and just takes more shots than they did? I'd agree.
Also worth pointing out, if you compare Ingram to (say) Middleton, Paul George, Kawhi, Marion, and Giannis all in their third seasons (as Ingram just was) you find they rank as follows in these stats:
PER: Marion (19.8), Kawhi (19.4), Giannis (18.8), George (16.8), Middleton (15.6), Ingram (13.4)
TS%: Kawhi (60.2%), Giannis (56.6%), Middleton (56.3%), Ingram (55.5%), George (53.1%), Marion (51.8%)
WS/48: Kawhi (.193), Marion (.151), George (.145), Middleton (.135), Giannis (.121), Ingram (.055)
VORP: George (+5.0), Kawhi (+3.8), Marion (+3.6), Giannis (+3.2), Middleton (+2.0), Ingram (-0.3)
BPM: Kawhi (+5.8), George (+4.7), Marion (+2.6), Giannis (+2.4), Middleton (+1.4), Ingram (-2.8)
Net Rating: Kawhi (+18), Middleton (+7), Marion (+7), George (+7), Giannis (+3), Ingram (-8)
Isn't it weird how when you start looking at the advanced stats, beyond the box score, Ingram starts to look worse and worse in comparison to these other guys. Dead last in 5 of those 6 categories, in some cases (Net Rating, BPM, WS/48, VORP) by a WIDE margin.
Again, I'm making it clear: I am not saying Ingram is doomed to suck. He could definitely improve. As long as he wears Pelicans jersey, I am hoping for him to succeed: I want the guys on my team to be good, and fun to root for. But can we please stop pretending that he's been really great so far in his career?