The Toronto Raptors want to ride a defensive identity into the Eastern Conference playoffs and pull off at least one series upset. The biggest thing standing in their way? Their own All-Star forward, Brandon Ingram.
For Toronto, their success this season has not been built on the offensive end. Ingram is having a fine scoring season, Barnes is underrated as a scorer and playmaker, and RJ Barrett is the key to 48 consistent minutes of offensive juice. In the end, however, the Raptors are just middle-of-the-road on offense. Defense is their calling card.
Toronto's strength is its defense
The number of elite defenders on the Raptors roster numbers at least three. Scottie Barnes is a strong contender to make an All-Defense Team this season, a player with the size, length and intincts to defend the paint while also having the agility and speed to lock down on the perimeter. He averages 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game; no other player can claim that accomplishment.
Jamal Shead checks in next as one of the best defensive guards in the league. The former national Defensive Player of the Year in college has translated his on-ball intensity right into the NBA. As his offensive game has grown, it has been easier for head coach Darko Rajakovic to keep him on the court.
Colin Murray-Boyles is just a rookie, but his defensive versatility as an undersized big is astounding. It's unfair to look at a rookie and make comparisons to Hall of Fame players, but he is the closest thing to Draymond Green to enter the NBA since Draymond himself broke onto the scene.
Add in a solid enough starting center in Jakob Poeltl, league-average defenders for their positions in Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, and another young guard in Ja'Kobe Walter with decent defensive chops, and you get a rotation that looks dangerous on the defensive end. Toronto is ranked sixth in defense this season for a reason.
Why aren't they higher? In part because they lack a truly lethal rim-protector; Barnes and Murray-Boyles are great, not elite, in that role. The likes of Victor Wembanyama, Isaiah Stewart and Chet Holmgren anchor the defenses ahead of them on the list.
The other reason? The Raptors have an Achilles heel playing 34 minutes per game.
Brandon Ingram is killing the Raptors' defense
Webster's Dictionary defined the word debilitating as "causing serious impairment of strength or ability to function." Brandon Ingram is a debilitating defect on the Toronto defense. Their strength is being seriously impaired by his lack of impact on that end.
He should be a solid defender; he is 6'8" with a long wingspan and decent NBA athleticism. Yet somehow, the mental aspect of defense has never clicked for Ingram. Going back through his entire career, he is average or worse on defense. This season, he is the clear weak link in the Toronto defense.
The Raptors are 4.2 points per 100 possessions worse on defense when Ingram is on the court (garbage time removed), per databallr.com. They go from one of the league's best to mediocre. Considering that Ingram has been mostly healthy and plays more than two-thirds of the minutes in a game, that's a massive negative impact.
Toronto lost a hard-fought game against the San Antonio Spurs this week, and again and again Ingram lost his man on defense and allowed them to get open for a shot. That included the key bucket of the game, a 3-pointer by Victor Wembanyama -- imagine losing a top-5 player in the league.
The Raptors do not have an unstoppable offensive force to carry them through the playoffs. They need to win by shutting down opponents. That will not happen so long as they are playing Brandon Ingram 34 minutes per game at the two forward positions. He is a debilitating weakness that will ultimately prevent Toronto from reaching its goals this season.
Is there a better option? That's a different, more difficult question. The Raptors have invested assets and money into Ingram, and his scoring punch is enough to trick a team into how essential he is.
In the end, however, Ingram's defense is going to doom the Raptors.