Even though the rumor mill for a while was suggesting that Toronto could be in the mix for a "big fish," as ESPN's Brian Windhorst put it, the rather quiet offseason that followed revealed that the Raptors’ only major move of that kind was their 2025 trade deadline trade to acquire Brandon Ingram.
The Toronto Raptors spent a few seasons trying to figure out a core built around championship remnants like Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam, along with their young cornerstone, Scottie Barnes. Aside from a solid 2021-22 season that saw Toronto finish as the fifth seed in the playoffs, it became clear that bridging the gap between then and now of Raptors basketball wasn’t producing the desired results. Before we knew it, Fred VanVleet was gone, and Anunoby and Siakam followed in trades, bringing in players like Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and Ingram — sort of in a way — aboard Toronto's pool of new talent.
And while some might see Ingram as the latest star to join a long line of Raptors stars to take the mantle — like Kawhi Leonard, DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam, Chris Bosh, and Vince Carter, before him — the more common feeling among Raptors fans is that Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram form a strong one-two punch. So far this season, after five games played, the two Raptors stars are averaging these stats:
Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram are lighting it up for the Raptors
- Scottie Barnes: 22.2 points on 53.8% field goal shooting, 55.0% from three, 6.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and close to a block (0.8) per game.
- Brandon Ingram: 22.0 points on 54.4% field goal shooting, 45.5 from three, 5.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
With that, it's pretty clear that Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, along with a tertiary star in RJ Barrett (who might even be the Raptors' best player if you see it that way) have been excelling on the court. Even though the team as a whole is struggling to get wins so far (currently sitting at a 1-4 record and 12th place in the Eastern Conference), the pair that Toronto put all their chips on is doing their thing.
But obviously, from a logical basketball business perspective, Toronto didn't go through all this trouble to bring in Ingram just so he could be that buffer to add a little more offense. The idea was that his presence could lift the entire team, and Toronto could hopefully get back to being a wrecking crew force in the East. Although, 'wreck' might be one way to describe it, because even with Barnes and Ingram playing well together, Toronto's strange new strategy has led to a stretch of embarrassing losses.
So, Toronto was definitely onto something by wanting to add Brandon Ingram. But even with Ingram's presence and Scottie Barnes continuing to improve, that's still not enough to push the Raps over the hump. Whether it's a bigger mistake by the front office or some clear coaching oversights or negligence, that will remain to be an overarching storyline if this rough stretch continues. There’s something real and promising with the Barnes and Ingram duo, but cleaning up the kinks in between is up to those in charge.