Report: Raptors have interest in Brandon Ingram

Report: Raptors have interest in Brandon Ingram

We are exactly one week away from the 2024-25 NBA Trade Deadline.

We know that New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram is one of the hottest names on the trade market, as is Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox. With the Pelicans eager to move their All-Star wing–whose contract is expiring after this season–one unlikely suitor has entered the conversation: The Toronto Raptors.

“I’m told Toronto has emerged as a team to watch when it comes to Brandon Ingram,” NBA insider Marc Stein wrote earlier this week on The Stein Line. “It remains to be seen whether the Raptors become more than that where Ingram is concerned, but the mere suggestion of potential Raptors interest is the most significant development in weeks when it comes to the New Orleans forward who earned his lone All-Star berth during the 2019-20 season interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.”

Ingram, 27, is seen as a polarizing forward, and he hasn’t had much opportunity to help or hurt his stock this season. He has not played since Dec. 7 with an ankle injury. In 18 games, he’s averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists, shooting 46.5 percent from the floor, 37.4 percent from 3-point range and 85.5 percent from the free-throw line.

The 6-foot-7, 190-pound slender wing is in the final year of five-year, $158.3 million extension he signed prior to the 2020-21 season. His cap hit for this season is $36 million and was reportedly seeking $50 million annually while negotiating a contract extension last offseason, which did not come to fruition.

The Raptors are nowhere near contention, which makes this a curious destination for the one-time All-Star. They already have an established forward in Scottie Barnes, but it appears Masai Ujiri is aiming to buy low on another All-Star caliber player to jumpstart this rebuild with Immanuel Quickley. Toronto has plenty of contracts it could use to facilitate this, including Bruce Brown‘s expiring contract, Kelly Olynyk, Davion Mitchell, Gradey Dick, etc. They also have their own first-round picks in every season through 2031 plus Indiana’s 2026 FRP (top-5 protected).

What do you think about this possible destination for Ingram? Let us know in the comments!

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