Brandon Ingram believes the Lakers can improve their performance by not content with LeBron James

When the Los Angeles Lakers signed a four-year free agency deal with LeBron James, front-office, head coach Luke Walton and players all cautioned against over-reliance on the best player of the match.

The arrival of James has certainly changed the expectations of the Lakers and they sought to surround it with multi-purpose game manufacturers to weigh it down to the point of harming the team. The responsibility rested with the veterans and the young Lakers.

In particular Brandon Ingram, who is in his third season and has been identified by many as the player most likely to benefit from James' presence as a teammate. Ingram did not do very well and the Lakers as a team sometimes got used to watching James on the offensive.

"We slip into that, but we also trust the ball in his hands. We know he will do the right thing for the team; whether to shoot or pass the ball, "explained Ingram.

"I think we just have to do better to be ready, move without basketball and open spaces to play in areas."

Since hiring as head coach, Walton has insisted on sticking to a quick attack based on the movement of the ball. James' 30.4% utilization rate is ranked 14th in the NBA, but is his lowest score since the 2015-16 season.

"We're counting on him to play, but as I said, I think our youth needs to be better in situations like this. And we have been good, "added Ingram. "I think Lonzo was good, Kuzma was good. I think we can just do it more and more as we find ourselves in these situations.

"I think we tend to do [watch James] in the first half, third quarter, no matter what that is. I think we just have to do a better job of moving without the ball at all times in the games. I think we sometimes tend to stagnate.

Although his averages and his production when he shares the ground with James are lower than when the triple champion does not accompany him, Ingram think he continued to play the same way.

"I always make myself worth it. Every game is different, he explained.

"I'm starting from learning experiences, I'm just trying to see what each game has to offer, where I can attack in each place, and I'm just going from there. If I'm hot, I'll take the picture. I can always play for my teammates. "