Lakers rumors are out that their rookie Brandon Ingram could play at the shooting guard position in this upcoming season behind rising star Jordan Clarkson as the second overall pick of last June's draft again reiterated his dream of winning the NBA's Rookie of the Year award in one of his recent interviews.
The 19-year-old NBA freshman, who is coming off the Duke Blue Devils basketball squad, is considered by many as one of the top players in this year's crop of rookies with Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons, the no. 1 overall selection, seen as his best rival for the ROY at the end of the season.
With reports emerging that Sixers head coach Brett Brown is planning to play the the 6-foot-10, 240-pound Simmons as his team's point guard, rumors have also gone out that new Lakers boss Luke Walton is also intending to do somewhat the same for his own super rookie.
Lakers Nation reported that 6-foot-9, 190-pound Ingram, often compared to Kevin Durant during the preseason rookie assessments mainly perhaps because of his stature, may become Coach Walton's backup shooting guard this coming season.
While Lou Williams and Nick Young are realistically going to play at the spot behind Clarkson with Ingram spelling starting small forward Luol Deng off the bench, the report noted that if Walton intends to develop the rookie faster, then he should play him at least 30 minutes per game.
To achieve that, Deng, the Lakers recent $72 million-man, and Ingram would have to play together for some time, which means the rookie will have to slide to the two-guard spot for it to happen.
There are no immediate reports of Ingram's reaction to the rumors, but in his recent interview, he again mentioned his dream of becoming next season's best rookie and that it is what is driving him to be at his best all the time.
"That's something that is on my mind," Ingram said, via SB Nation. "All rookies want to win rookie of the year. That's something that drives me."
However, that dream may not be so reachable if he will only play second fiddle to Deng for the entire year. Displaying his versatility to play multiple positions early in his career could be the way for him to tick off his first goal to achieve in the NBA, which is the ROY award.
