The Raptors‘ trade-deadline acquisition of Brandon Ingram raised some eyebrows due to the team’s record (now 16-37) and the perception of Ingram as a win-now player. However, appearing on First Up on TSN1050, general manager Bobby Webster insisted that Toronto is “not putting the cart before the horse” and referred to Thursday as “a great day for the rebuild.”
“We got younger, we opened up playing time, we were able to use a lot of the flexibility under the tax to take on contracts, draft picks, pick up some cash along the way,” Webster said of the Raptors’ deadline moves, which included trading Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk to New Orleans as part of the package for Ingram and sending out Davion Mitchell in a separate deal.
“We opened up a lot of playing time for our young players. People have seen with our rookies, Ja’Kobe [Walter], Jamal [Shead], [Jonathan] Mogbo, and Jamison Battle and [Ulrich] Chomche, then second- and third-year guys like Gradey [Dick] and Ochai [Agbaji] — I think the opportunity that moving some of these old guys will afford the young players, we’ll see.”
Webster pointed out that Ingram isn’t much older than the rest of the Raptors’ core players and suggested that there’s a belief within the organization that there could be an opportunity to take a real step forward as early as next season, though the team won’t rush the process.
“Interesting to see as we add a first-round pick, add a second-round pick, hopefully able to retain Ingram, see what that team looks like, but we’ll temper expectations as this team grows,” Webster said. “Scottie Barnes is 23, Immanuel Quickley is 25, RJ Barrett is 24, Brandon is still just 27, so I think even from that perspective it’s a young core. We’ll continue the rebuild, I think this is a progress. No change in progress or timeline.”
Here’s more on the Raptors:
- Ingram will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but the Raptors now hold his Bird rights and could even extend him before he reaches free agency. Webster is optimistic about getting a deal done sooner or later. “We’re having [contract] discussions now. We wouldn’t do the deal unless we felt there was a comfort level with what he was looking for, what we were able to offer, an interest level in coming to Toronto,” Webster said. “Hopefully we can get something done. (Like) when we traded for Jakob Poeltl, it enables us to get the player in the system and for them to get a feel for us, we get a feel for them. The goal is to have a long-term extension with him.”
- Veteran guard Garrett Temple, who previously spent two seasons alongside Ingram in New Orleans from 2021-23, said the Raptors’ front office sought his input before pulling the trigger on the trade, per Eric Koreen of The Athletic. Temple anticipates a “seamless” fit for his former teammate. “The fact that we were able to get him without having to give up any of our, you know, core pieces was very impressive, and it’s great,” Temple said. “He’s a really great guy. And you can’t say that about a lot of guys in the league, especially All-Star-level players. But BI is definitely that guy. He cares about playing basketball. He loves playing the game of basketball. In today’s league, that’s not easy to say about a lot of people that have been paid.”
- Veteran forward P.J. Tucker won’t be coming to Toronto after being acquired from Utah in the five-team Jimmy Butler trade that sent Mitchell to Miami, Webster confirmed (according to Koreen). Tucker remains on the roster for now, but it sounds like he’ll be either bought out or waived outright, which would create a second open spot on the Raptors’ standard 15-man roster.
- Speaking to William Guillory of The Athletic about Ingram’s fit in Toronto, Koreen expressed concern about how the former Pelicans will mesh with franchise player Barnes. However, Barnes said over the weekend that he’s excited to build a “special connection” with his new teammate, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays.
- In a separate story for The Athletic, Koreen takes a closer look at how Battle went from an undrafted rookie on an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal to a spot on Toronto’s standard roster over the past seven months.
IQ/RJ/BI14/Barnes and Dick is a nice crop of talent. However, I feel like they need to trade RJ or IQ. Both have salary increases next year. I believe they need a true young big man center. Maybe in the summer they trade IQ for possibly Walker Kessler? With draft picks headed either way?
IQ’s contract is flat
Yeah I see that according to HoopsHype. Do you think they will try to get out of it and see his market?
Trade Quickley quickly!
raz , great idea. I like the idea of Toronto and Utah as trade partners.
Raptors have an abundance of young talent, and they cannot keep all 4 of Barnes, Barret, Dick, and Ingram to play SG/SF. Poetl is now too old for their timeline.
Utah’s rebuild has stalled because they’ve drafted so badly. Other than Kessler, no pick is close to ready.
Utah gets: Barrett + Dick
Toronto gets: Kessler + K George + Sexton (salary matching)
In Barrett gives Utah a rising star to couple with Markkanen. Dick gives them a scoring that none of their draft picks can provide. They also get off the horrible Sexton contract and can try to forget the Keyonte George mistake.
In Kessler, Toronto gets a C that matches their timeline. They can move Poetl, Sexton, and, George for more youth or picks.
I don’t think Sexton’s deal is all that bad. He has $19M next year and it’s final year. I think more realistically it would be something along the lines of the below:
Utah gets RJ Barrett ($27.7M) next year, Gradey Dick ($4.9M) and 2027 top 10 protected pick from Raptors
Toronto gets: Walker Kessler ($4.8M), Colin Sexton ($19.1M) and KJ Martin $8M.
Toronto sends out $32.6M, Utah sends out $31.9M. Toronto gets Sexton and Martin on expiring deals. Utah gets 3 more years with Gradey Dick and 2 years with RJ and a valuable 1st they can attach or hold onto for 2027.
Toronto’s 5 would be IQ, (they would likely draft either Edgecombe or Tre Johnson for SG) , BI14, Barnes and Kessler with Sexton coming off the bench.
Utah’s 5 would be (I think they would select Dylan Harper for PG). Dick, RJ, Markkanen and Filipowski (for now). George is 6th man off the bench.
Only thing is what would Toronto to with Jakob Poeltl whose is slated to make $19.5M next year and holds a player option for $19.5M the following year. Do they dump him to a team like Lakers who need a big man? That’s the only thing that I can think off.
Raz427, that’s a very well-thought out proposal (as usual).
But it shows how much we disagree on Kessler’s value, who I see as basically a younger version of Poetl — strong rebounding and rim protection, low offensive skills, weak PnR defender. He projects as a top 10-12 starting C (which is not bad).
I believe the value of Barrett and Dick exceeds Kessler’s. (I should have been clearer that Keyonte George has negative value. He’s been unplayable this year, possibly worst defender in the league.)
The deal is Barrett + Dick for Kessler, and the other pieces don’t matter.
Not an Ingram guy at all. Raptors didn’t give up much to get him. Not sure how to read that.