Why the Raptors’ trade strategy for Brandon Ingram makes perfect sense
Will Lou and Alex Wong explain why the Toronto Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram, and explain the reasoning behind their team-building strategy. They explain that the Raptors saw this as a buy-low opportunity to add a much-needed scoring talent, while not ruining the tank for the 2025 NBA draft.
#raptors #torontoraptors #brandoningram #nbatrade
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38 Comments
Other thing I would add is that it gives us the right sized contracts to trade for a super star if one becomes available in the next few years.
Appreciate Will for calling out the disingenuous sentiments around the trading of picks. So many ppl are too dumb or ignorant to examine the nuance and apply context to each situation the team was in at the time.
If they can actually sign him to 130 or under and have him healthy when they make the playoffs this is an insane bargain. The dude is a HOOPER.
we've been adding to the floor, and this adds to our ceiling. should be fun on the court
Next up:
IQ and RJ for Trae Young. đ€Ż
Luka/Kyrie, No championship. Kawi/George, no championship. On and on Everyone gets excited over the big names and they have nothing to show for it. Just maybe the Raptors are doing the correct way.
For the people criticizing the deal they just overthinking everything trying to claim they not casuals with their takes. Ive been wanting BI from last season and people brought up his contract and if he was good enough to be that final piece. I understood those concerns and even fell off the train for a bit but right now the deal is an absolute NO BRAINER! BI as the final piece was a bit of a tough sell but the fact that we happen to be im this situation to tank and get a high level prospect in addition to adding the talent of BI calibre while not giving up much to get him weâve literally positioned ourselves to have a winning season next year and begin to contend. Team already had tremendous potential adding an allstar level player and a high level prospect as well this team is starting to look spooky. Adding the prospect alone i thought was enough to get us over the hump but adding BI too, this is like some OKC type ishh
You say there was mutual interest for BI to play in Toronto, and we all know heâs a free agent in 2025/26 then why even give away those picks then Will? Some of your logic doesnât make sense. Not like weâd need him to play this season given our tank and his injuryâŠ
I hate hate all these podcasters keep saying every team aside from the top 4 should be eternally tanking and trying to be bad on purpose then they go ahead and criticize those same bad teams like the wizards & hornets smh
Preach Will!!!!!!
Slim Reefer
1. Raptors want to start to compete next year
2. 2 years they want to be in top pack
3. The young guys show a lot of progress, elevating timeliness
4. They now pieces that can be moved 4 the "player"
5. They can still develop young guys now and push for a coveted pick
Brandon is a great move! My concern is IQ
Remember, having a high draft pick does not mean that you will get a great pick.. It will take time for the high draft pick to show his game… By that time Barnes would be looking to go to other team becoz he wants to win… Getting BI is the best thing it happened to ua considering nobody in the history ever wants to sign in Canada
IF BI stays healthy and stays for the speculated 3 yr/ $120ish, than yes this a great move. Adds a primary scorer with size, possibly improved range and improving D. Sort of a younger Spicy P on a slightly more affordable contract. Other than maybe the IQ contract (hoping I'm proven wrong next season), the Raptors have added a lot of talent in a variety of ways and I'm optimistic that's a winning team in the East 2025-26.
Hey Will, quit rocking those soccer jerseys and get some Tempo gear going?
THANK YOU WILL, now can someone please explain this to JD bunkis lol his opinion on this trade and the raptors plans as a whole is so jaded and shortsighted
I know some raps fans don't like the move but look … toronto has maybe the best medical staff. Other than the little injuries he's had this dude right now, day 1 , is torontos best offensive player. He's a walking 25/5/5 and will shoot 47-49% consistently. Pels wanted him to shoot more 3s. So he bump3d his attempts per game from 3.5 last year to 7.5 this year and was making 37% of them. He's consistently gonna shoot 85-88% from the ft line. Hes ELITE from midrange. He has a 80% fg % when driving to the rim. He is an elite scorer from everywhere. But the most criminally underrated part of his game is the playmaking / creating part of it. He's essentially played the point forward role for the pels the last 3 years and hes averaged 6 assists per game. His size allows him to see over defenders , he's elite at drawing a double , making that right read or skip pass to open shooters. But if toronto gives him the freedom to just g9 get buckets and playmake occasionally I could see him easily putting up 26,27,28 ppg here. Him being here is gonna do wonders for barnes as well. He's gonna get a ton of wide open looks and he'll be able to lock up on defense more without having to exurt so much energy on offense AND defense. i hope he's found a place that will appreciate him. Because so many times when zion just couldn't stay healthy or thr whole team was hurt , brandon ended up being 5he scape goat a lot when in reality the 2 times new Orleans got to the playoffs it was behind brandon busting his tail to get then there. Is he a superstar idk. He'll need to take another step. But I think he's got thr talent to do it.
@GameTheoryPodcastwSamVecenie Will get on the Game Theory pod because these guys love to play GM without considering real world conditions like how free agents dont come to Toronto, and to keep players you HAVE to overpay them, so when you get a talent like BI for ONE first round pick likely in the 20s, you just do it and see how it goes
If Ingram only plays 60% of a season then $40M aav feels like $56M.
Do we understand that Masai and Bobby is a chess player. We got a first round pick in James Wiseman who is the 2nd pick in the draft a 6â11 7â0 centre
IQ for Trae move coming this summer
The raps want to hit the ground running next year. Ingram in my opinion, based on talent is option 1. Then Barrett, Quickley and Barnes.
Relieving Scottie of pressure will allow him to impact the game without the other team really having a counter
Dude says if IQ, Scottie, BI hit. Fucc the leading scorer huh? Pure scorerâŠBi avg the same ppg as RJ.
âThe way we know he can playâ. Do you actually know how IQ can play? The IQ you think you have has never played like that lol. You guys are just dreaming. Yet, you have RJ playing very well and undervaluing that. You people are so weird.
Bill Simmons is the biggest Raptors hater ever. He and Russello both . They said that Toronto is stupid for maxing Scottie đ. At the time they also said Franz Wagner wasnât a max player, but now they say Franz contract is a steal. Those guys are Monday morning quarterback hacks!!
It is also disingenuous that the media alongside our neighbors. Seeking to be the Gm and front office. I believe this team is going to be great. The NBA also needs to stop with the difficult team schedule. They know that if the schedule is fair, we will catch up too fast.
People don't realize that Masai got the 2nd biggest fleece in the trade deadline. We got BI for 2 bench guys and a Pacers' 2025 1st, not even our own. Pacers are currently 4th so its gonna be in the 20s anyways. This trade looks like the ones I saw on reddit proposing we trade Brown, Boucher, and a couple 1st for a starting caliber player except its better cuz we only traded a 1st that isn't even ours and we keep Boucher.
Super pumped about B.I., people sleeping on this guy, we finally got a closer!!!
Indirectly calling out JD Butkis. Love it!
If you were initially confused or "angry" about this trade, fine. If you're still confused or angry then I think it's time for you to follow another sport because you clearly don't understand basketball.
This trade was a steal. Masai is a criminal đđđ
Are the raptors gonna trade RJ thi
5:49 – his middle name is Xavier.
So how about – Professor X
Great take Guys!!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Can someone explain the âtrade kickerâ? Iâm unfamiliar with the term and how it works. Thanks in advance!
This is why you have the best Raptors media out there: fair, nuanced, professional, experienced points of view. No trendy controversial sound bites, no drama, no sexy takes, you love the team and you also hold them accountable when things haven't worked according to plan, just pure facts. THIS needed to be said, thanks guys for elevating the conversation to this much needed level.
We gave up a rental and a player who is now on the flip side of his career. If BI can stay healthy itâs a great trade.