There have been some other major storylines for the Toronto Raptors this year, such as the transition from the revered Masai Ujiri to Bobby Webster. However, when it comes to player narratives in 2025, nothing is more noteworthy than the addition of Brandon Ingram.
After arriving in Toronto this past trade deadline, Brandon Ingram missed the rest of the 2024-25 season to fully recover from an ankle sprain he suffered in his final days with New Orleans. In the lead-up to the 2025-26 season, all eyes were on the "Notorious B.I.3," as Raptors fans and BI enthusiasts had not seen him play in the regular season for quite some time.
So far in the 2025-26 campaign, as the year draws to a close, the Brandon Ingram experience has been a mixed bag for the Toronto Raptors. However, in my opinion, the positive aspects and high points of what Brandon Ingram can contribute to this team largely outweigh the lows that often come with such a polarizing player.
How has Brandon Ingram's season shaped up to this year-end point?
To date, Brandon Ingram's 2025-26 season stats are as follows: 21.9 points per game on 46.6 percent field goal shooting, 32.9 percent from three-point range, 81.4 percent from the free throw line, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. He also averages 34.2 minutes, which is the most on the team. Moreover, an important development for Ingram during his Raptors tenure so far is that he has not missed a single game for Toronto — he has appeared in all 34 of the team's contests to this point.
Ingram's mid-range prowess continues to be his calling card into this Raptors tenure, as the majority of his shots for Toronto still come within 10 to 16 feet of the rim. The three-point shot has fluctuated throughout his run so far, with some positive movement upwards at certain points, to where it's now back at a work-in-progress average of near 33 percent.
Of course, I believe Ingram's most key moment with Toronto this year was his game-winning shot over the Pacers in November, which kept their winning streak alive. Aside from that, he has continued to be a solid offensive presence into December, apart from an especially rough game against Charlotte. Although I am still uncertain about Ingram's ability to consistently excel as a defender, his teammates and coach frequently commend him for his strong efforts and his willingness to buy into that aspect of the game.
Ingram wasn't brought in to be primarily a defensive specialist; after all, that's more Scottie Barnes' role. He is a much-needed source of consistent scoring and adds an element of offensive reliability that the Raptors haven't had from a proven scorer in quite some time. I would love to see Ingram improve his three-point percentage and, based on what I observe, become a more disciplined point-of-attack (POA) defender.
Given his length and size, he's given Toronto some solid blocks when he's focused, but I wouldn't place too much emphasis on that aspect. Even if he can just be an average defender at best, I think Toronto wins there. Overall, the BI experiment has been very enjoyable so far. There have been a few rough patches, but who on this team hasn't experienced those?
Grade: A-
*All stats courtesy of Basketball Reference and NBA.com, unless otherwise noted