Mitch Johnson explains the rapid progress of San Antonio’s draft picks amid Player of the Week honors

San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Ingram has spent much of this season honing his skills behind the scenes. The quiet development of the 2024 second-round pick has been a source of satisfaction within the Spurs organization.

Ingram was named the G League MVP after averaging 22.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists over his last five appearances for the Austin Spurs. He recorded four double-doubles and one triple-double as Austin went 4-1.

“Player of the Week is definitely going in the right direction,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said of Ingram’s development. “I think it’s always part lucky for him, part rewarding as an organization and staff, and part just fun when you have a young player in your program for a year and they struggle, especially when you’re in the G League and it can be a little bit out of sight, out of mind to the outside world. You sell them on gradually getting better and sticking to the process.”

“That can be tough for young guys when at times they might not get the attention or the direct feedback that they’re looking for or that they’re used to, especially because a lot of those guys are coming from being really good college players. So it’s great for him to stay with it the way it is and have the progression and growth that he has and be recognized in a way that’s very well deserved.”

Ingram, the 48th pick in the 2024 draft from North Carolinahas spent most of this season in the G League, appearing in just five NBA games.

Harrison Ingram shows improvement in G League after signing two-way contract

The 6-foot-5 forward’s two-way development with Austin has been encouraging for San Antonio. Ingram is on average 16.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists on 48.2 percent shooting in 21 G League appearances.

“He’s really embraced and embraced his role,” Johnson said. “That can be hard to do in terms of your role as a defender, a physical player, playing the ball. But you try to always continue to extend or create more possessions with offensive rebounds, knock down open shots, get out and run in transition, and obviously we want him to be the main defender and be able to rebound. I think it’s just something that you’ve done at times when you’ve done that. take monster production, you can tell he’s put his energy to the right places.”

The Spurs signed Ingram to a one-year, two-way contract before this season.