Lakers make case as a destination in loss against Warriors

SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick, Jeff Zillgitt and AJ Neuharth-Keusch break down the roller coaster seasons of the Cavaliers and Thunder. USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES — As the Lakers have learned the hard way in recent years – cough, LaMarcus Aldridge, cough – free agency pitch meetings can get a bit too complicated sometimes.

The business folks come in talking about market strength and how a player’s off-court brand will be booming, somehow forgetting along the way that that these are basketball players who care about the game before and after everything else.

So when the time comes to pitch the likes of LeBron James and Paul George this summer, here’s one surefire way of keeping it simple and effective: Show tape of Wednesday night’s 127-123 loss to the defending champion Golden State Warriors that came without Rookie of the Year candidate, Kyle Kuzma (back spasms).

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Cut to the middle of the third quarter, when young Lonzo Ball scored eight consecutive points on – wait for it – back-to-back three-pointers and a running layup during his 15-point, 10-assist outing in which he held his own against Steph Curry. Not bad for someone who has been on track for the worst shooting rookie season in league history.

Cut to the Brandon Ingram highlights, when the 20-year-old small forward went at his idol, the Warriors’ Kevin Durant, time and again en route to finishing with a career-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting. Cut to the part where the mighty Warriors needed overtime to take down this up-and-coming crew that needs these kinds of impressive showings to convince one of the top-tier talents to come help them return to prominence.

And more importantly, cut to the best part of all: Ingram taking it all in stride and making it clear that – regardless of who might come their way in free agency – there’s something brewing here that’s worth paying attention to.

“I don’t think about it right now,” Ingram told USA TODAY Sports about who might come join them this summer. “I’m still trying to figure out who I am, still trying to figure out my identity and work hard and try to figure out who I’m going to be as a player in the NBA.

“We’re just trying to build with what we have right now. We know we have a young core that’s really talented, with good attitudes, good character, and that work hard every single day. I think talking with (Lakers president of basketball operations) Magic (Johnson) and (general manager) Rob (Pelinka) and (head coach) Luke (Walton), they’re up for the process, the process of what we’re building with all these young guys. We know that something bigger and better is going to come out of this.”

Come to think of it, maybe Ingram should be leading pitchman. To hear the youngster analyze this Lakers situation is to realize that they have reasons for optimism here – if only because of the widespread willingness to learn and grow organically that is so apparent.

Ingram, in particular, is a fascinating character. While he has significant holes in his game, he also has the kind of attitude that makes you believe he’s only going to get better. After admiring Durant from afar during his younger years, he forged a relationship that has had a substantive impact on his career arc.

“I just saw myself (as) long, athletic, and could get to the rim (like Durant),” Ingram said. “He could shoot the ball. I used to shoot the ball a little bit, had the midrange game. He was one of the best scorers in college (at Texas). I watched him from Montrose Christian (High School), Oak Hill (High), everything.

“He tells me (that) if I need anything to talk to him. He’s always giving me advice, when I’ve been struggling coming into the preseason, and even last year. He’s just telling me to enjoy the process, to keep working, and keep building confidence every single day. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

With stars of the present and the past.

While Ingram hasn’t replicated Kuzma’s move of dining with Kobe Bryant, he has established a productive rapport with the Lakers legend.

“No dinner, but we’ve connected on the phone a couple of times, where I’ve asked him about film,” Ingram said. “I called him before the OKC game last year (on Feb. 24), and that’s when the change of Magic and all the little stuff with (former general manager) Mitch Kupchak happened.

“I wanted to know about (Thunder point guard) Russell Westbrook, wanted to know how (Bryant) watched film and how I could affect the game. The first thing he said to me was defense. He didn’t even say anything about offense. He said defense, and Magic had told me the day before about how I could use my length to get to the basket, so I just put those two together. And I think after that OKC game, it changed my whole season around last year.”

With more nights like this, it could change the fate of a once-storied franchise.

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.

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