Brandon Ingram, Lakers Agree to Contract: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Brandon Ingram, signed his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the team announced.  

The signing comes over a month after No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons signed his deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Because the NBA's collective bargaining agreement has a fixed wage scale for NBA rookies, with two-year guaranteed contracts, Ingram and the Lakers had little to negotiate.

Ingram, 18, averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals per game with Duke during the 2015-16 season. With the Lakers, he's expected to slide into either the shooting guard or small forward role, though Jordan Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell may open the season as the team's starting guards.

That will mean that Ingram likely will start at the 3, though new signing Luol Deng will also earn major minutes at small forward. 

Ingram is a natural scorer and a smooth athlete who is effective from beyond the arc (41 percent from three last year) and has the length at 6'9" and athleticism to create his own shot. He should be one of the team's top scorers immediately if he adjusts quickly to the NBA game, and the Lakers seem keen on building around him, Clarkson, Russell and young power forward Julius Randle. 

The Lakers and their fans had their first opportunity to see him in action during summer league, and he showed off his immense upside in his last game, scoring 22 points. He'll be expected to be one of the main contenders for Rookie of the Year, alongside Simmons.

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