Goodbye to Brandon Ingram

Brandon Ingram’s time in Toronto is over.

On Tuesday afternoon, news broke that the Raptors had acquired Kawhi Leonard in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and draft capital, marking the end of the 28-year-old’s tenure with the franchise. He was only here for one full season, but Ingram left his mark on this franchise, and while it didn’t end the way he wanted, or lasted as long as he may have anticipated, Ingram’s stint with the Raptors should undoubtedly be viewed as a massive success.

When the Raptors traded for Ingram on February 6, 2025 he had played just 18 games that season for the New Orleans Pelicans, and it was unclear when, or if, he would suit up with the Toronto Raptors. Six days later, Ingram signed a contract extension with the Raptors, which at least made it clear that at some point he would play for the Raptors, but when that would be was still unclear. Eventually, it was announced that Ingram would sit the rest of the season, and would make his debut with Toronto in the 2025-26 NBA season. It was a risky trade. Ingram hadn’t played over 65 games since his rookie season in 2016, and it wasn’t a perfect fit, but it did address the Raptors lack of shot creation and it gave the team a real chance at competing in the Scottie Barnes era.

Ingram made his Raptors debut against the Atlanta Hawks in the season-opener, scoring 16 points, grabbing 9 boards, dishing 3 assists, and nabbing two steals while the Raptors trounced the Hawks in a 138-118 victory. It wasn’t his best game, but it set the tone that this season was going to be different. Though just after the opening night victory, the Raptors went into a 4-game losing skid before bouncing back and winning 13 of their next 14 games. During that stretch, Ingram had a number of significant plays for Toronto.

Against the Charlotte Hornets, Brandon Ingram was a man on a mission. In the closing seconds Ingram had two clutch moments to propel the Raptors to victory. With 26 seconds left, with the game tied 108-108, Ingram received the ball in the short corner and tried to post up Colin Sexton, he turned to fire, but Lamelo Ball had come to double team, they were suffocating Ingram and through it all it appeared as though he was going to fire up the shot anyway. But then RJ Barrett, seeing an opportunity, darted down the middle of the lane, threw his hands up for the pass, and Ingram managed to get enough space to slip the pass to Barrett who laid the ball in. 110-108.

When the Hornets came down the other end, Ball ran a pick n’ roll with Ryan Kalkbrenner and Ball’s threat to score drew Poeltl away from the rolling big man who was left wide open for a dunk with 10 seconds remaining. Though he was in fact not wide open, as Brandon Ingram saw the play developing and was able to rotate down at the last second for a game-saving block. The Hornets got another chance, but Barnes erased the next shot attempt and the Raptors won their 4th game in a row. It was the first example at just how big of a difference Ingram could make down the strech of games.