FEBRUARY 6: The Raptors have officially acquired Ingram, the team confirmed in a press release.
“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,” team president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “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.”
FEBRUARY 5: The Pelicans will trade Brandon Ingram to the Raptors for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a first-round pick and a second-rounder, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The first-rounder will be a top-four protected 2026 pick that originally belonged to Indiana, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link). The second-rounder will be the Raptors’ 2031 pick, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.
Sam Amick of The Athletic reported earlier tonight that the Raptors and Hawks were “neck-and-neck” in their pursuit of Ingram, but Toronto found a way to get the deal done. Assuming he’s signed to an extension, the 27-year-old forward will be part of the long-term foundation in Toronto alongside Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
Ingram will be eligible for an extension worth up to $144MM over three years through June 30, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). Marks adds that the Raptors inherit Ingram’s Bird rights and can exceed the cap to sign him to a new deal in July when they will be roughly $50MM below the tax line.
Marks also notes (via Twitter) that Ingram’s current contract includes a 15% trade kicker that will increase his cap hit for this season from $36MM to $38.1MM.
With an expiring contract, Ingram has been on the market for months after he and the Pelicans weren’t able to agree on an extension last summer. New Orleans reportedly offered to use Ingram’s deal to help Miami facilitate a Jimmy Butler trade, then made its own offer for Butler last week.
Ingram has been sidelined with an ankle issue since December 7, and he still hasn’t been cleared for contact. He may not be able to play for a few more weeks, but that shouldn’t matter to Toronto, which is far out of the playoff race. Ingram is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the 18 games he’s played this season.
Will Guillory of the Athletic notes (via Twitter) that Ingram was on the bench with his teammates for the first half of tonight’s game at Denver, but he didn’t return after halftime, suggesting that a trade was imminent.
Brown has a $23MM expiring contract, while Olynyk has one year left at $13.4MM. It’s possible that New Orleans will explore subsequent deals involving both players before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline.
Brown, 28, built a reputation as a versatile utility man on several teams, culminating with the role he played in helping the Nuggets win the 2023 title. He turned that into a lucrative two-year deal with Indiana, but was traded to Toronto midway through last season and has been limited by injuries this year. He’s averaging 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17 games.
Olynyk, a 33-year-old big man, was in his first full season with Toronto after being acquired at last year’s deadline. He was putting up 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23 games.
Well now then…
That could shake up the East…
Very solid move for Toronto.
Dang kinda hoped the kings would get him after the collins trade fell through
P.S. I’m the better mariners fan
Wonder if McCollum is next to go
Why now? I get it that it makes a good starting 5 but Ingram and his expiring contract don’t match the timeline at all with the raptors (and a first is included… why?)
This is like the Deron Williams trade to the nets
Ingram is only like 26 or something like that. Seems like he has been around forever, but still a lot of years left
Does controlling his rights before free agency affect the type of contract they can offer him?
Cause it makes sense if you’re trading for his rights. You’d have to look at how much raptors are able to offer him as a free agent vs if they control his rights prior to free agency.
Thats my guess why this went down.
Matching salaries with brown olynk and paying a late 1st and 2nd to work out an extension or sign a new deal that can only be done if raptors control his rights.
Short answer is yes. If he was not on the roster they would have to have cap space to sign him. They don’t have any cap space and will not this summer. Now that he is on the roster they can sign him even though they are over the cap.
Which is great and all, but the question is would he even be worth going over the cap for? I suppose they hope all the injuries he’s had will keep his price in a range they’d be comfortable with, but with the current cba you certainly don’t want to miss on a big contract.
But I do get the skillset fit and the fact that the Raptors are better than their record thanks to all the injuries they’ve had.
Speaking of injuries…
The question is not whether he is worth going over the cap for, it’s whether he’s worth the money. There is no practical advantage to being slightly under the cap, especially if you’re so close to the cap that you can’t use the MLE, as long as you don’t cross any tax thresholds.
Did I call it, or did I call it!
Quickley,RJ,Ingram,Scottie,Poetl
Shead,Mitch,Grady,Walter,Agbaji,Boucher
You didn’t.
I had mentioned Brown and Olynyk for Ingram. But hey you are miserable and bothered aircastle.
And Cooper flagg
Pretty low chance of getting to draft Cooper with this move, unfortunately. Unless the Raps do some real tanking for the rest of the season, this move was pretty questionable, even if Ingram didn’t cost much.
Why would the Raptors do this trade? They’re 20 games below .500, number 13 in the east. Do they hope to move up in the standings and make a playoff run?
They gave up a first round pick and a second round pick for a rental? I’m puzzled. I must be missing something obvious. Bruce Brown is on an expiring deal too. I don’t get it.
I am sure they plan to resign him. Guarantee they talked to his agent before the trade.
Ingram will extend with them. Nobody else will get him.
But is Ingram a better player than what Flagg or any of the other top 4 can potentially be? I guess this means management didn’t think we’d be bad enough to get a chance to get Flagg
Surely raps considered all variables. Would they even be gifted the top pick or 2nd overall???? NBA doesn’t want them to have Flagg, that’s well documented.
I mean, have they been? Most of their losses have either been close, or due to injury. 11 whole games lost by five or less points, 16 by less than 10 points. The Raps are honestly a pretty solid team on paper. Quickley/Barrett/Ingram/Barnes/Poeltl with 6th man Gradey and Agbaji 7th is a pretty solid rotation. Mogbo, Shead, Walter, and Battle look like they can at least be solid bench pieces too.
They’re also currently 5th by draft position. So if they don’t overachieve, they can still get a top 10 pick from this draft.
On top of that, Ingram is still injured, so he won’t be suiting up right away.
Probably to work out a long term deal with Ingram.
You’d have to look at how much money raptors can offer him as a free agent if Ingram stayed with the pelicans vs if they sign to an extension or resign him having control of his rights prior to free agency.
Gary I think Miami might flip Wiggins for Ingram tomorrow
OK, that makes sense Davey. Can’t see how the heat would be excited about the return of Andrew Wiggins. Ingram would be a more consequential player.
“OK, that makes sense Davey.”
I’ll take Brand New Sentences for $1000, Alex.
Wiggins is better
I think Wiggins is better for a contending team that wants 3pt shooting and defense. If you need creation and not much defense and shooting, Ingram is better for you then.
Wiggins doesn’t play defense and quits on teams.
It doesn’t make any sense for Toronto though. Miami was trying to get the best package for Butler that they could, and Butler had a lot of say in the value of any offers by stating who he would or wouldn’t extend with. Miami may move Wiggins, but I’ll be surprised if it’s for Ingram.
Wiggins is a better fit for the Heat’s roster. He’s a better defender and cantch-and-shoot option than Ingram, and more willing to play without the ball in his hands. The Heat have reorganized their offense to work around Herro and the two bigs in Bam and Ware. Wiggins gives them a lot of the basics they were missing without Butler, but is more of a team player.
Ingram makes more sense for Toronto. Shot creation has long been something they’ve wanted. They could use Wiggins, any team can use 3&D, but Ingram’s a better finisher at the rim and can take opponents off the dribble himself and is a better passer, lessening the playmaking load on Barnes and Quickley. Having an offense where four guys can immediately attack without setting up a play is pretty advantageous for Toronto, with Gradey, Quickley, Agbaji, and the other shooters on their roster.
So the Raptors get his bird rights and can pay him more now? Then say another team?
Something to that effect. Peanut gallery said this
“ Short answer is yes. If he was not on the roster they would have to have cap space to sign him. They don’t have any cap space and will not this summer. Now that he is on the roster they can sign him even though they are over the cap.”
By him being on the Raptors when he becomes a free agent they can offer him a 5 year deal while other teams can only go 4 years max.
I dunno about bird rights. They always confuse me. But I do know that there is only one team projected to have cap space this summer, the nets. So unless they nets want Ingram(which I doubt) the only real option he has to get paid is to extend with the raptors.
Yup Gary
Wiz and Brk can get in the ring with them. As the only 2 cap teams as competition but his bird rights gives Tor the ability to sign him over the cap
Apron 1 or below teams are maxed at the full Mle which entails a 4/60 next year ; can’t go over 4 years
Keep that number in mind as Gsw will only be able to give that number out next year as their biggest contract
Correct Gary
I really don’t understand what the Raptors are doing.
IQ (overpaid) RJ (good third option) Ingram (good third option on expring deal) Barnes (unpopular opinion but he’s an overrated forward) and then Poeltl (average starting centre)
On paper starting 5 vs starting 5 they look better than most teams in the league but in reality they are the 5th worst team in the league….
They have a lot of good number 3 guys and no number 1’s or 2’s.
Like for example Milwaukee, Giannas is a 1, Dame is a really good 2 and Kuzma is a really nice 3.
All of Torontos guys are 3’s at best.
So what do they do moving forward give Ingram a max extension and just continue to pay guys to be injured and average….
Give it a couple years this could be a team of 5 Tobis Harris’s
I wonder if Miami will flip Wiggins for Ingram?
I’ve said from the start I’d like to see I gram in Miami. Think he’s a great fit for the culture and on their timeline with Herro and Bam. He’s got a similar skill set to Jimmy Butler but without the ego and of course he was their main man. Canada can have Wiggins and maybe to sweeten the deal for them grab Jaquez too.
Herro Robinsom Ingram Bam Ware
Rozier Larson Highsmith Jovic KLove
Didn’t the raptors do this a couple years ago where they acquired Poetl back from the Spurs with the intent of resigning him which allowed them to offer him more?
This is probably a similar situation with Ingram
Terrible analysis.
How so…
This is fair except they all at least try to play defense, most of the defense is quite good.
So maybe just 5 Tobiases offensively. But honestly Tobias is better offensively than anyone on the Raptors…
Doesn’t make a lot of sense now, but this is a fire starting lineup for next season…
Alleviates a lot of pressure off Scottie offensively, good complimentary shooting, at worst they can flip him for similar value that they gave up for him
Team’s gonna get a lot more expensive, but they’re also going to get a lot better; this is a sick trade I’m pumped to see how this looks
Knicks gave up 5 first for Bridges and Wolves the same with Gobert and this is all New Orleans gets lol
Did you see what the Mavs got though? Lol
I’d trade Quickley but that’s just me.
Feels kinda like raptors are just rebuilding the same team they traded last year.. A bunch of guys who all play the 3/4 and just end up getting in each others way.
Well then you need to go look at their roster again
I wonder if Miami will flip Wiggins for Ingram
No the raptors won’t. Miami could have gotten Ingram last week
I don’t think the Raps want Wiggins.
Im pretty sure raptors did this a few years ago where they required Poetl from the spurs and were able to resign him and offer him more money in the process.
So this is probably their plan with Ingram. Resign him in a similar fashion and they’re able to offer him more now that he’s heading into free agency as a raptor.
Hey Davey J and Bring San Diego. Hope you’re both doing well but umm you don’t need to repeat yourselves. Davey J that’s the 3rd time you’ve mentioned Wiggins for Ingram and San Diego you mentioned the same thing about the Raptors repeating themselves. Is everyone as high as me? Hell yea
Davey and Bring San Diego are repeating themselves, like the raptors are repeating themeselvs
They are weak minded haters Jdubb.
I don’t love the fit. You already have Dick, Barnes and Barrett.
I agree. feels a little like musical chairs, and they just grabbed the last guy available before the music stops. At least they didn’t take Beal.
Don’t think they are done making moves, but the next shoe to drop might not be until the summer.
All Ingram gotta do is play a little and his value will go back up in the trade market again. I also feel like the fit is nice. Barrett has turned into a solid 3pt shooter and you can always be hopeful Ingram will get back to his good shooting ways.
Bigger teams dominate Booga. Look at Boston, they can switch everything. That’s how you outwork teams. Force them to play your style and adapt.
I missed the part where the raptors got bigger with this trade.
Paul George to the Hawks let’s goooo
That would be nice…I doubt things start going our way, at this point lol
Ahh, raptors are also getting out of Kelly Olynick next year $13 million. Small minor part of it, but something.
Ingram is better than Jimmy, thats not up for debate. Also, if you extend him or sign him in Free Agency for the max that he can get, he would still be making less money than Jimmy. Also he nearly 10 YEARS YOUNGER than Jimmy.
Warriors made the dumbest trade in NBA history and sooner rather than later it will show in the most brutal way possible.
Can’t be dumbest trade in history, because we live in a history where the mavs traded Luka doncic to the lakers.
Pretty short sighted if you think that’s the “dumbest trade in nba history”. Hell off the top of my head the Harden to Houston trade got them Kevin Martin.
You lost us at “Ingram is better than Jimmy, that’s not up for debate.”
Perhaps a panicked response to Butler’s extraordinarily successful Warriors debut?
This feels like the core of a team with a guaranteed ceiling of 50 wins in a best case scenario season.
Unless Scottie learns to move and shoot like Kevin Durant. Or even Paolo Banchero.
Also. Here’s a hot take that I can’t ever prove substantially.
The Raptors now have too many “thinkers” dribbling the basketball. Ingram, Scottie and Barrett all are very mechanical and not fluid.
I would classify Harrison Barnes and Jaylen Brown here too.
It doesn’t mean they aren’t athletic or aren’t good. But I do believe it’s a connection to a “type” of player who actually is good and is athletic but something else doesn’t seem to translate.
Kawhi while surgeon like and robotic at times still plays within the flow of the game. Jaylen Brunson, Kyrie, LeBron, Luka are all their own flows.
This makes sense to me. Probably no one else, lol.
Ball stoppers?
I clearly don’t watch the Raptors play
I would say all three are wing play makers. They have triplicate skill sets. I thought they should be moving Barrett for 3 and d and jack of all trades guys, not bringing in another guy with the same skills. But whatever they get paid more than I do to figure this stuff out.
Ingram is not worth what he’s making now. Plus he plays same position as Barnes. Don’t understand this at all.
What about this “Ingram will be eligible for an extension worth $144MM” If this guy gets close to 50 MM a year we can all rest assure that is all about money laundering. There is no way in hell a player could be that overvalued and some franchise be that stupid
Scottie can play 1, 2, 3, and 4. Olynyk and Brown were trade pieces. Extension is probably in place. I like it as someone who watches all the raptors games.
Bigger teams make more sense though. Boston are interchangeable too.
The raptors need a young PF and C not Ingram. These trades the league is forcing is garbage
Barnes is best suited to playing the 4….
No way. He is a perfect SF/PG
PG. IQ
SG. Barrett
SF. Barnes
PF. ?
C . ?
. (23-25) Age. Veterans on the bench
They should have one scoring big man and one defensive big man ( the same age as Barnes 23 to IQ 25)
I would quickly trade Ingram and Poeltl for a young PF and C (23-25) to start. Everyone is perfect on the team actually
Sorry I don’t like 6’7 Barnes who was drafted a SF to be playing small ball PF acting like a PG. Just be a point forward (SF)
Your position is who you can defend not what you do on offense. He is best defending bigger players, not guards or quick wings. That is why he should be playing PF.
At 6’7 guarding taller stronger players. Nope
There are a bunch of power forwards on good teams that are 6’7”/6’8”. Aaron Gordon, PJ Washington, OG, Jaylen Williams (6’4”), amen Thompson, rui, Kwahi, Keegan Murray, Tobias Harris. So actually he is usually guarding players his same height at the PF. But whatever, your opinion is your opinion.
Remember this is the only era ever you could do this stuff throwing tiny players at the wrong positions
I agree that in a different era most if not all of those players would be small forwards.
Peanut as well as all 30 teams playing the same exact defensive game plan on switching defenders etc etc etc. This is the weakest era ever with fans like formerlyz who are always wrong and do not know or understand anything about basketball
You’re fighting an uphill battle explaining this to certain people here…
imagine getting a guy who avg more than 20 pts a game the last 5 years, giving up spare parts and a 1st next year and fans complain.
some people just can’t be happy
Hardly an even trade.
IQ,RJ,Ingram,Barnes,Poetl.
If anything Quickley is who I would trade. I only trade Poetl if it’s for Miles Turner.
To me RJ is a PF not a 2. His feet are sooo slow moving laterally. Guards blow by him like he is standing still. I would try to move him for a big guard who can defend (although that is easier said than done).