Ben Simmons was basically the clear cut number one pick for a while but we did hear a few rumors saying that Ingram might sneak by Simmons for the first overall pick.
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As for Ingram, he hardly mirrored his summer league debut on Friday where he posted 12 points, four rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a pair of blocked shots.
Another way that Gooden would help is the maturity of point guard D’Angelo Russell. Yes, it was only game, and yes, it’s only summer league, but this is the beginning of a new chapter in LA and if last night was any indication of what could be, this should be a fun year.
It may have only been an NBA Summer League game, but D’Angelo Russell got a taste of redemption Saturday night.
“They always told me to let the game come to me”, Ingram said, speaking of his past coaches. He will encounter close games during his career, and coming up short against the Lakers will have its lessons.
“Before the shot and all that, I just kept preaching: We’re gonna win this game”, Russell said.
Russell, who scored 20 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists, said of Ingram: “It didn’t even look like he was trying”. “It gets easier, and I’ll keep preaching to him that it only gets easier and he’ll be fine”. Nance and Russell committed nine of the Lakers’ 13 first half giveaways, but the relatively experienced duo bounced back and led the comeback in the second half.
They shot a collective 25-of-69 from the line. And I’m only talking a little about his skills on the floor.
“It’s five guys on the court for each team”, Simmons said Saturday morning during the shootaround, downplaying the No. 1-vs.-No. We’ll never know how Bird (or Magic or any superstar pre-Jordan) would have handled true free agency as it exists today.
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“The Lakers’ second-round pick, No. 32 overall, Zubac was a bit of a mystery to everyone but draftniks”. In addition to struggling at times during his pro transition, he clashed with then-coach Byron Scott and had a highly publicized fallout with Nick Young after a video he took on his phone ended up all over social media.
