MILWAUKEE _ There are the players Brandon Ingram sees in himself when he fast-forwards a few years: Kevin Durant, of course; George Gervin; a little Tayshaun Prince.
Here's a player who is not on that list, but maybe should be: Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 6-foot-11 do-it-all All-Star. Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks (22-29) in points, assists and steals, but also blocked shots and rebounds.
"That's what we want Brandon to be," Luke Walton said. "We don't want him to be just a scorer or just a playmaker. We want him to be one of those guys that literally, by being on the court, ends up with blocks, steals, rebounds, points and assists. Just being all over the floor. That's our vision for what he's going to be."
Few knew when the Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo 15th overall in the 2013 draft he would develop into the game's most versatile player and, from the small forward position, the Bucks' primary ball handler.
The odds seemed just as low that the 6-foot-9 Ingram, drafted second overall by the Lakers in June, would find himself starting games at point guard when D'Angelo Russell was injured.
"He's got to be like the Greek Freak for us," Nick Young said of Ingram last month.
Ingram, 19, said he has not studied Antetokounmpo, 22, closely, other than the games he has seen on ESPN. Ingram will make his third straight start for the Lakers (18-37) on Friday night at BMO Harris Bradley Center, and will draw Antetokounmpo _ the first career matchup between two similar players.
"I've heard comparisons with him before," Ingram said following a grueling practice Thursday, "but he's never somebody I tried to model my game after. I model my game after certain players, but at the end of the day I want to be the first Brandon Ingram."
Ingram averages 8.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2 steals per game, although the rookie has averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two games since replacing veteran Luol Deng as a starter.
Either way, he has a long way to go before anyone calls him the second Greek Freak.
But it's also not an outlandish comparison.
In his rookie season, Antetokounmpo posted similar numbers: 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists.
Both players are tall with unique playmaking skills, both are rangy on the defensive end with mirror-image 7-foot-3 wingspans and are praised for their understanding of the game.
It's the combination of size and vision that Walton finds most intriguing.
"There is an advantage to being taller and being able to see everything from that vantage point," he said. "You still have to have the ability to see everything. It's being able to make those passes. ... You can see over the defense, the length you have. All that stuff becomes easier the taller you are."
Despite some success starting at point guard, Ingram said he wasn't sure he could giving himself over to a pseudo-point guard role the way Antetokounmpo has.
"I think (Walton) just put me at a point guard position so I can be more aggressive," he said. "That's something I dealt with in high school, but it's of course not my natural position (small forward). I think for me being in the starting lineup and me being my natural position has been good for me."
