Grading the Brandon Ingram trade: Raptors get a talent, but the move raises questions about their plan

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An awfully busy Wednesday in the NBA snuck one more big move in before the clock struck midnight ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, with the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly trading forward Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that ends the All-Star forward’s tenure in Louisiana after five and a half seasons — and sets up some pretty interesting decisions come the summer.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reports the Raptors will receive Ingram in exchange for guard Bruce Brown Jr., center Kelly Olynyk, a first-round pick and a second-round pick. According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet, the first-rounder is the Indiana Pacers’ top-four-protected 2026 pick, which accompanied Brown to Toronto in last year’s Pascal Siakam deal; his colleague Michael Grange reports that the second-rounder will come in 2031.

After almost — count ’em — six seasons, the Pelicans moved on from Brandon Ingram. (Photo by Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images)

Let’s grade the trade from each team’s perspective, starting north of the border:

Toronto Raptors: B

Team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster reportedly entered the deadline intent on adding “a significant piece” to kickstart the Raptors’ burgeoning rebuild, with an eye toward halting the franchise’s ongoing decline since the 2019 NBA championship and expediting its climb out of the East’s basement. (The Raptors sit at 16-35, in 13th place in the conference, after Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Grizzlies.) That search landed on Ingram, a spidery swingman with one All-Star nod under his belt and a smooth offensive game that reportedly left Ujiri “intrigued” as a potential complement for the playmaking of All-Star wing Scottie Barnes.

As a pure talent play, there’s a lot to like about Ingram, a gifted all-around scorer and improved facilitator who has averaged 23 points on 47/37/85 shooting splits, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game over the past five seasons. There are reasons he spent most of the last year on the trade block, though.

He proved a shaky fit alongside a jumbo point forward with an iffy outside shot in Zion…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/grading-the-brandon-ingram-trade-raptors-get-a-talent-but-the-move-raises-questions-about-their-plan-072613199.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-06 07:27:00

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