Brandon Ingram has been a good player for a long time. That's not a debate. What is a debate is just how successful a team can be with Ingram leading the scoring charge. Because in six seasons he played in New Orleans, the Pelicans won a total of two playoff games with Ingram as the go-to guy, and the Raptors
Now, that fact comes with numerous asterisks. Firstly, Ingram was only the go-to guy because his co-star, Zion Williamson, missed more games than he played in. And it's not like he was surrounded by an All-Star cast, either. In other words — he was set up for failure his whole time in New Orleans, which is now tanking even though it doesn't possess its own first-round pick. So it's hard to blame BI for the situation he was in.
Still — Ingram is 28 years old, the leading scorer on a team that wants to win multiple playoff series, and he's never advanced past the first round before. Are the Raptors destined to overburden Ingram in the postseason, or will a balanced Raptors team give Ingram a chance to shine in the playoffs he's never had? There will be considerable on a near-decade veteran who's played 10 postseason games ever. That's pretty rare.
Brandon Ingram will not be doing it alone in Toronto
Zion Williamson is a monstrously talented player who is just as frustrating because of how rarely he's on the court. Thus, Ingram has never consistently played with a co-star like Scottie Barnes, and that should feel encouraging for Raps fans.
No, Barnes has never experienced playoff success either (his only appearance was his rookie year, when the Raps lost in the first round to the Sixers) but his playstyle seems perfect for a playoff atmosphere, and will take some pressure off of Ingram to be the only offensive engine the Raptors turn to when things get grimy.
They say that stars cancel each other out in the playoffs, and it's up to the "other" guys to get the job done. If that's the case for the Raptors, I think the team will feel pretty good about their chances, because that means both Ingram and Barnes came to play in their first real playoff action.
We still have a lot of basketball to play before any of this matters, but the question of just how much starpower the Raptors All-Stars can provide will determine how this season plays out in the spring.