Brandon Ingram is living up perfectly to this moniker in new Raptors home

While most would tell you that the mid-range shot is far from the ideal basket to attempt in a game or that it's slowly dying in the modern NBA, there are still some very skillful maestros who operate effectively in the mid-range. The Raptors' newest star, Brandon Ingram, is undoubtedly one of the league's most well-known mid-range assassins.

And a recent statistic would reveal that BI isn't slowing down or shying away at all in that category.

As the "NBA Stat Education" account @StatDefender highlighted in a recent X post, the 27-year-old Raptors pillar is leading all players in the league this season for the best mid-range field goal percentage on a minimum of 20 total field goal attempts.

Brandon Ingram continues to cook in the mid-range

While there were calls to see more from Brandon Ingram as a floor-spacer who could unlock greater potential for this Raptors core, it comes as no surprise that BI has been able to bring over his longstanding skill set and provide Toronto with a much-needed consistent scoring boost.

So far this season, Ingram has converted 21 of his 35 field goal attempts from the mid-range, which remains his most characteristic shot area. Moreover, Ingram has taken the majority of his shots from the distance of 10-14 feet, or the short mid-range, with 15 made field goals out of 33 attempts, translating to a 45.5% success rate.

The long two doesn't seem to bother Ingram either. In the distance of 15-19 feet, he has made 14 of 19 attempts, which is a solid 73.7% field goal percentage. When Ingram is hunting for his patented mid-range shot, he carries an edge that makes a difficult shot look seamless. This is largely why I had such high faith that he could join the Raptors and continue to be the pure hooper he's known to be.

He has a lot working in his favor, being a lanky 6-foot-8 forward with an equally towering 7-foot-3 wingspan. This gives BI the advantageous green light to go at his defender in isolation and look for his usual pull-up jumper, which he has made 16 of 32 times so far this season. Alternatively, Ingram is keen on also hitting his signature fadeaway, on which he is 8-for-12 this year.

I don't think you can really get mad at a guy who's been able to give the Raptors so far: 21.1 points on a hyperefficient 54.5 percent field goal percentage, a solid 36.7 percent from three, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. Sure, Ingram's style isn't for everybody, and detractors will likely remain who point out that BI has never really influenced a winning team situation or that he muddles the offensive strategy.

But Ingram's mid-range prowess is what makes him stand out from the crowd, and this early-season statistic is a testament to that. And for a Raptors team that has struggled in recent years to find a polished, reliable scorer capable of carrying them out of some ugly offensive dry spells, Brandon Ingram might just be the crown jewel everyone has been waiting for.