In the span of three seasons, the LA Clippers’ newest star acquisition, Brandon Ingram, has bounced around to three different teams. He was on the New Orleans Pelicans in 2024-25, the Toronto Raptors in 2025-26, and is gearing up to play for the Clippers in 2026-27. That’s a lot of moving for a former second overall pick, reputable All-Star, and someone who can score the ball pretty well. As a result, it’s fair to wonder why Ingram is constantly bouncing around.
Well, after ESPN placed Ingram 65th on its Top 100 player rankings, Zach Kram got to the bottom of it. Kram mentioned that “his overall impact doesn’t match his shiny scoring totals,” and honestly, that’s a fair evaluation and certainly one of the biggest flaws in his game.
Hopefully things change for him with the Clippers, but if continues to play with a high-scoring, low-impact skill set, LA may end up joining the Pelicans and Raptors as teams to undergo the true Ingram experience.
Brandon Ingram will get buckets, but his impact just isn’t there on either side of the ball
Out of everything Brandon Ingram brings to the table, one thing we know for certain is that he can score the basketball. Ingram has averaged over 20 points per game for seven consecutive seasons and is known to be a mid-range maestro, similar to what Kawhi Leonard was for the LA Clippers.
Additionally, Ingram is a willing rebounder and playmaker. That’s what the Clippers need in the small forward spot.
The problem with Ingram lies in the advanced metrics, which show how impactful a player truly is.
According to Databallr, a tool used to track on-off statistics, the Toronto Raptors’ net rating last season when Ingram was on the court was +0.5, and when off, it jumped to +6.3. This alone captures Ingram’s negative impact to a T, and what’s more is that Ingram isn’t as valuable as he should be defensively.
At six-foot-nine, with a seven-foot-three wingspan, Ingram should be, at worst, an above-average defender. In all honesty, he’s not.
Ingram struggles with physicality, is not that great off the ball, and fails to disrupt passing lanes or even protect the rim.
That said, Zach Kram hit it on the nose in his rationale for ranking Ingram 65th in the league. If his impact matched his scoring, there’s a world where he is a top-25 player.
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