When the 2026 NBA Media Day festivities went down earlier this week, of course, all eyes in Raptors Nation were on the insights and conversations coming from Toronto’s media scrums.
Hearing from head coach Darko Rajaković or a passionate Scottie Barnes, and, without a doubt, hearing from Kawhi Leonard officially for the first time in this return (sporting a fresh headband look, at that) — helped fuel the fanbase’s excitement.
But Media Day also brought a shocking reveal about former Raptors star and now-Clippers player Brandon Ingram, the centerpiece of this summer’s blockbuster trade that brought the Klaw back to Toronto. For the first time, the public learned that Ingram’s injury from the 2026 postseason, believed to be a right heel issue, was more serious than first thought: the surgery to address it revealed that BI had also partially torn his Achilles. As a result, he’s expected to miss the start of the 2026–27 NBA season, with no concrete return timeline at the time of writing.
The Raptors’ package sent to Los Angeles included Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and second-round picks in 2030 and 2033. When the trade first dropped in late June/early July, the immediate reaction was generally positive, with many giving the Raptors credit for aggressively improving their winning core after the team showed it could put up a spirited fight in the playoffs.
I’d argue it was a bit unfortunate to pull the plug on Brandon Ingram after he joined the squad with high ambitions, was arguably the first star to embrace a move to Toronto, and wore a smile throughout — moving on from the Notorious B.I.3 had to be a necessary evil if the Raptors wanted to take the next leap in their promising journey with this group of talent.
Giving up first-round capital into the 2030s may be the biggest knock on this deal. People will still have reservations about parting with those kinds of assets for an aging and questionable star, but in light of the BI injury news, giving up only two firsts looks like a stroke of genius on the Raptors’ part. Kawhi’s push to get out of LA probably didn’t leave the Clippers with much leverage, and reports say they already knew what they were signing up for by taking BI.
Still, Toronto managed held on to additional assets. Toronto weren’t under any pressure to add more promising youngsters to the deal, like Ja’Kobe Walter, Collin Murray-Boyles, or even Jamal Shead. And while you could argue a new home in LA might revive Gradey Dick's value, what he’d shown in Toronto recently had more or less pushed him out of this core’s long-term plans.
Ingram’s latest setback puts the Raptors’ Kawhi trade in a new light
In many other circumstances, moving an expensive, injury-prone player would be an uphill battle — let alone finding a significantly higher-upside upgrade in the process.
Just imagine if Toronto had to hang onto BI and ride out his injury after such a strong 2025–26 campaign. With the East shaping up to be absolutely killer this year, I don’t know if many could confidently say the Raptors would be in a favorable position. They’d likely have to rely heavily on their pillars already in place: a strong core, but one that showed in the 2026 playoff sample that it just isn’t enough to get over the hump. But when you add a needle-mover like Kawhi Leonard, you get a polished squad many believe is the real deal, even with some of the other massive roster questions.
For the Clippers, already hit hard by the loss of draft capital tied to the Kawhi investigation and stuck between a rock and a hard place after the Klaw requested a deal to Toronto, this feels like one of those situations where one team’s bad luck becomes another team’s gain.
Sure, we’ll still have to see how Kawhi looks health-wise and what he can produce once the season gets underway, but this update gives fans, analysts, and commentators like me yet another reason to view the deal as a home run.
Add us as a preferred source on Google