Cooney: Scouting report on Brandon Ingram

AT THIS POINT, with a little more than a week to go until the 76ers make the first pick in the NBA draft, it really seems as if it is a two-horse race as to whom the selection will be - LSU's Ben Simmons or Duke's Brandon Ingram.

We gave our scouting report on Simmons last week and stand by our thought that he most likely will be the choice next Thursday. But if it's not Simmons, and the team doesn't trade the pick, it will most likely be Ingram.

Today, we take a look at Ingram, a 6-10, 196-pound 18-year-old with a 7-3 wingspan who earned the ACC Rookie of the Year award after averaging 17.3 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

Ingram was coached in AAU basketball by former Sixer Jerry Stackhouse in Kinston, N.C., and won a state championship in each of his four years of high school, becoming the first individual in North Carolina to ever do that.

Ingram will not turn 19 for a few months, so his body undoubtedly will mature from the rail-thin specimen it is now. With a wide set of shoulders, he seems to have the type of build that could easily enable him to put on muscle. Should that happen with his size, length and good footwork, he could be a defender of up to four positions and be able to comfortably play small forward, power forward or even center at some point in his career.

Ingram's footwork and outside shooting ability could be directly related to him having been 6-2 as a freshman in high school. Guard skills are what he possessed before his body shot up eight inches in four years. He is terrific at getting his feet set on catch-and-shoots, rarely needing little hop-steps to get himself set. That is pretty impressive for someone that size. His release is high, his form fluid. He can get up on his jumpers when he has to, but when he has time his shot seems to require little effort and doesn't take long to get off.

Ingram almost could be a model for how to use jab steps, pump fakes and ball fakes when looking to get off his shot. And because of his ability to take the ball to the basket, those moves have to be respected by defenders, often giving him enough space to get off a shot. If a defender closes out, Ingram can go to the basket with either hand and also has the ability to pull up after a dribble or two and shoot a jumper.

He can score in an impressive variety of ways. His long strides often aren't anticipated by defenders, so he gets to the rim on two dribbles from 20-plus feet away.

Ingram seems to be a very smart player who sees the floor and anticipates what defenses are doing. That helps him to be an above-average passer, whether it's on pick-and-rolls when he is doubled or on a drive to the basket.

Defensively, Ingram is at his best when he is playing a finesse style. He still has guard-like footwork, which makes it easy for him to stay in front of offensive players. When he does get beat off a dribble, which happens frequently, he has the ability to make up for it by using angles and his length to still block or alter shots.

The biggest issue is strength: a lack of it hurts him at both ends of the court. College basketball is much different than the pro level. In college, hand checks and body contact are called much more closely than in the NBA. Having space offensively was a huge advantage for Ingram in college, but that won't be the case in the NBA. Contact in the NBA goes uncalled much like holding in the NFL. Ingram will be subject to much more banging in the pros and that probably won't bode too well for him.

At Duke, Ingram could post a lot and liked to finish with fadeaway jumpers, which he shot from about 10 to 15 feet. His posting in the NBA probably won't be that easy; as he gets pushed away from the basket, that fadeaway will now come in the 18- to 20-foot range.

Similarly to Jahlil Okafor at Duke, Ingram was needed on the court as much as possible, which meant foul trouble could not be tolerated. So at times, aggressiveness on defense wasn't a priority. As we've seen with Okafor, that can't happen in the NBA.

Should the Sixers go with Ingram, many see him as a better fit than Simmons. Ingram would immediately give them an outside scoring threat, an area where the team is sorely lacking. Plus, Ingram's upside appears to be more positive than Simmons'. Could it be that the team envisions Ingram being a better pro than Simmons in three, four or five years?

Ingram fits the new trend in the NBA, a matchup nightmare at the offensive end because of his height, length and shooting prowess. Eventually, he could become the type of defender who can guard up to four positions.

The comparisons of Ingram to Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant are simply way too premature. Take a look at Durant's highlights during his lone season at Texas, where he averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. His skills already were at an NBA level. Ingram has a long way to go to get his skills to NBA levels, let alone to those of Durant.

There really is little to not like about Ingram's game, and the reason why there is so much debate as to what the Sixers should do. His game will take a few years to be fully NBA-ready, but then it could be something really special. Whether that happens here or not, we'll find out next Thursday.

* Scored in double figures in just three of his first seven games at Duke.
* Scored in double figures in 28 of the last 29 games. In the lone game he didn't, against Louisville, Ingram scored eight points and had 10 turnovers in a loss.
* Had 14 games with 20 points or higher, twice getting career-highs of 26. Those games were against Georgia Southern and Elon.
* Grabbed 10 or more boards in a game eight times.
* In two games against rival North Carolina, Ingram averaged 15 points and nine boards. He shot 10-for-33 from the floor.
* In Duke's three NCAA Tournament games, Ingram averaged 23 points while playing 119 of a possible 120 minutes.
* Averaged 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks in ACC games.
* He led Duke in scoring nine times, in rebounds seven times and in assists six times.

@BobCooney76

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