The Raptors see Brandon Ingram as a long-term fit and are pushing back on the narrative that the team’s rebuild is all but over.
Though the NBA’s trade deadline came and went at 3 p.m. ET Thursday, it took nearly eight hours for the deal to make it through the league’s trade cue, largely thanks to processing the complicated, multi-team Jimmy Butler blockbuster, which included Toronto sending guard Davion Mitchell to Miami.
But the big one for the Raptors was officially bringing Ingram north of the border from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for wing Bruce Brown, Canadian big man Kelly Olynyk, the 2026 first-round draft pick previously acquired from Indiana in the Pascal Siakam trade (the pick is Top-4 protected) and Toronto’s own 2031 second-round draft pick.
“We see Brandon as an integral part of this team’s future — he’s an elite scorer, he has a really diverse offensive skillset, and adding him to the young core we have is huge as we continue our quest to win in Toronto,” Raptors vice-chairman and president Masai Ujiri said in a release. “At the same time we welcome Brandon, we need to really thank Bruce and Kelly. They have been professionals and leaders and they’ve been great teammates and examples for all of us. We wish them all the best moving forward.”
The franchise believes Ingram is young enough to fit long-term with franchise player Scottie Barnes (23), point guard Immanuel Quickley (25), RJ Barrett (24) and the team’s promising youngsters and also don’t think his arrival means the rebuild that began when Fred VanVleet left as a free agent and accelerated when OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam were dealt away last season has not already come to a close.
“Great day for the Raptors rebuild,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said at the team’s practice facility. “I think we accomplished a number of things. In the short term, we created some opportunities for our young players to play a lot more. I think people have seen over the past couple weeks, see them start to develop chemistry. I think that’s really what we’re prioritizing for the rest of this season,” Webster said.
Ingram has been out since December 7 with an ankle injury and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to play. The team begins a three-game road trip in Oklahoma City on Friday and Ingram will join them on the trip to meet and consult with Toronto’s medical staff.
Webster said that the Raptors got younger in moving two of its elder statesman in Olynyk and Brown, and intend to work out a fair deal with Ingram.
“We’re also in the unique position where we are eligible to have extension talks with him, so we’re looking forward to those with him, and hope to lock him up so he has a long stay in Toronto,” Webster said.
“Brandon is a player we followed for a long time. Obviously, he was a highly touted amateur player. Attended Duke University, number two pick. All the accolades, you know, we think a fresh start in Toronto would really be a spark in his career.
“As far as Brandon, he’s still early in his career, so, I’d caution against sort of reading too much into sort of the long term play next season, I think it’s still a rebuild,” Webster maintained. “I think it takes time for players to come together. It takes time for them to ascend. So I think we’re looking forward to getting to know Brandon. We don’t know him as a person. We know him as a player from afar, but this will be a great platform for him to sort of get to know the players, get to know the coaches, get to know Toronto. We look forward to that.”
Webster believes Ingram will be a nice complement to Barnes because of his skill and shot-making. The team also doesn’t seem overly concerned by Ingram’s long injury history. In fact, similar in some ways to the Kawhi Leonard deal, that history arguably played into Toronto’s favour here.
“If you think about the deal on its own, I think we feel like it was relative to some of the other deals in the market for similar type players (Ingram has averaged 23 points over the last six seasons, has made an all-star team and won an NBA most improved player award), we got a pretty good deal, sort of relatively speaking. “So maybe some of (the injury history and risk is) baked into that. Also, we have a decent sense of where he wants to go with an extension. So from a value play, whether that’s fair to him or not, I think some of that is baked into this deal,” Webster said.
The Raptors insist the goal remains the same. Continue to let the young players learn and gain valuable experience the rest of this season, maybe see Ingram on the court a bit too, but come back next season much stronger with another core piece locked in. Webster also said it was important to keep their potential Top 10 pick this season and move the extra one from the Pacers. That makes sense, since it’s the best chance the franchise has of adding another player with a similar talent level as a Barnes. They have never signed anyone of that caliber via free agency, nor one of Ingram’s. That’s another way of looking at the move. There are risks, but it’s not like scorers like Ingram find their way to Toronto easily.
Time will tell whether it was the right call.