Brandon Ingram is a polarizing player on an expiring contract who went to a rebuilding NBA team. Does his move to the Toronto Raptors make any sense?
In an NBA trade deadline cycle that was filled with bizarre twists and turns, the Toronto Raptors somehow managed to make the most surprising (well, second-most surprising) deal of them all, sending Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and a pair of draft picks in exchange for Brandon Ingram.
The reason this move is so head-scratching is Ingram is at the peak of his powers, while the Raptors (16-35, 21st in TRACR) are very much in the rebuilding phase of their operation.
Is there a method to their madness? Or will this go down as one of the worst moves of the 2025 trade deadline?
The Good
This season has been injury-riddled for both Ingram (he’s only played in 18 games) and the New Orleans Pelicans, so it’s hard to glean too much insight from his 2024-25 numbers.
However, in his five-and-a-half-year run with the Pelicans, Ingram averaged 23.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game with 57.6% true shooting. The bottom line is he’s a very good basketball player, and if a team wants to transition from a bottom-feeder to a competitor, it needs good players.
In many ways, Ingram is a comparable player to Pascal Siakam, mainly because of their 6-foot-8 height and midrange splendor. Last year, the Raptors traded Siakam to the Indiana Pacers for three first-round draft picks, officially announcing their intentions of rebuilding their roster.
Fast forward to this week, and the Raptors acquired Ingram for matching salary and one first-round and one second-round pick. Basically, they landed Ingram for less than half the draft capital that the Pacers paid for Siakam.
The reason the Raptors could do this is because Ingram’s value is at a low point after a rough postseason showing last year followed by a season full of losing (for reasons largely outside of Ingram’s control).
In theory, the Raptors turned Siakam into a younger version of himself (Ingram is three years his junior) while also using the other two first-round picks they received to get players who could be a part of their next great team. Toronto drafted Ja’Kobe Walter and packaged the other first-round pick along with Kira Lewis Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. to acquire Ochai Agbaji and Kelly Olynyk.
With this move, one could argue the Raptors are seeking to resemble the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons of recent history. In 2023-24, the Rockets made what many people thought was a grave mistake by adding Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency. Viewed as a futile attempt to expedite the process, it turned out to be the perfect way to help give the young players some structure.
The Pistons have gone from a team that won 14 games last season to one that is firmly in the playoff race (6th in the East in TRACR). A big reason why they have been able to do this is because they spent the offseason putting adults in the room (Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr.) to create a better infrastructure around Cade Cunningham and the crew.
Ingram could be this figure for the young Raptors. Not only is Ingram a seasoned veteran who can offer nearly a decade of NBA wisdom, he’s also able to create his own shot at will (88th percentile in unassisted field goal rate last season), making him the perfect safety valve when the youngsters can’t get anything going.
The Bad
One of the reasons Ingram could be had for pennies on the dollar is because he has limitations as a player, as demonstrated last season. Yes, he’s a great on-ball creator, but he’s not the elite offensive engine who can withstand the wrath of great playoff defenses.
That by itself isn’t a deal breaker. After all, only a handful of players have that kind of power. The issue is that Ingram isn’t great at playing off other on-ball players, either. He’s not a speedy decision-maker (a prerequisite of being a gifted off-ball player) or a volume catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter (31st percentile in catch-and-shoot 3s per 36 minutes, per NBA.com).
Immanuel Quickley – a talented off-ball player in his own right – won’t have any trouble dealing with Ingram’s limitations. But what about Scottie Barnes, the face of the franchise? Siakam was traded in large part so the Raptors could give the keys to the car to Barnes, and while his scoring still needs improvement, he has enjoyed a great deal of success as a playmaker (93rd percentile assist rate).
Barnes also isn’t a good 3-point shooter (26.5% this season), so the idea he’d be able to flank Ingram during their shared minutes seems farfetched. Barnes is a more-urgent decision-maker than Ingram, so maybe there’s a creative workaround to this pairing.
The other looming threat here is Ingram’s contract status. At the conclusion of this season, Ingram will become an unrestricted free agent. Very few teams are projected to have cap space in the offseason, meaning the Raptors won’t have too much competition in their quest to retain Ingram.
But Ingram fancies himself a star and is going to want to get paid. However, the restrictions of the new CBA can really limit teams when they have to pay a non-max player max money. If the Raptors end up falling into this trap, it could completely sink what they are trying to build here.
The Bottom Line
To be transparent, I’m not a huge fan of this deal. While I like the idea of surrounding your young core with maturity and the Raptors did get a very good player for relatively cheap, Ingram is still a very specific type of player. And I’m concerned Barnes isn’t the type of star who can make this type of player work, and that the Raptors will end up handing out a contract that they will have a difficult time moving if things go awry.
Still, if the fit is better than expected and the two parties agree to a fair deal, the Raptors may have just added an important part of their next great team at a bargain price.
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