Raptors on Film: Analyzing what makes Brandon Ingram an underrated passer

The Raptors have a new engine to power the offence, and it brings more than just an extra scoring gear.

When the Toronto Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram last season, it was clear the team missed the ‘break-glass-in-case-of-emergency’ type of skillset that defences fear.

DeMar DeRozan supercharged an unexpected We The North movement with his dizzying array of counters. Pascal Siakam blossomed into a mismatch nightmare during his last five years in Toronto. Kawhi Leonard showed fans what it looked like in all its perfection before he bolted for Los Angeles. Brandon Ingram is cut from a similar cloth. The six-foot-eight forward is gifted when it comes to shot creation.

There’s something else there that deserves attention. The Raptors, as mentioned earlier, had it too, and that’s Ingram’s passing ability. Since entering the league in 2016, Ingram has steadily improved as a facilitator. Over the last four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Ingram averaged 5.6 assists per game. As his game matured, Ingram figured out how to weaponize his shot-creation to open up passing lanes. The advanced numbers show it, too.

Assist percentage measures the percentage of a player’s teammates’ made shots that the player assisted on. Assist-to-usage ratio details how often a player recorded an assist, given how frequently he has the ball.

Ingram finished around the 97th percentile in assist percentage and comfortably in the top quartile for assist-to-usage ratio for all forwards in his final four seasons with the Pelicans.

Here’s a closer look at how Ingram dissects opposing defenders.

Midrange double teams

For all the questions that surround this year’s team, the one certainty may be Ingram’s astonishing midrange bag. Defences have graduated past the ‘hope he misses’ approach and occasionally send a second pair of arms to deter Ingram. The iteration of Ingram that the Raptors are getting understands where the soft spots are in the help coverage. He’s also demonstrated an ability to dissect double teams from this crowded area without four shooters on the court, something that bodes well for this Raptors team.

Pick-and-roll

Ingram’s otherworldly combination of scoring ability and length makes him an exhausting cover in the pick-and-roll. He’s a maestro with the ball in his hands, and it pops on film with his creative bounce passes that always seem to be in rhythm. Like Scottie Barnes, he can also make passes that others can’t because of his wingspan and height. Ingram is more of a perimeter threat than Barnes, and defences appropriately blitz him hard, which is when his length truly comes into play.

A feature-length film

There’s an exhaustive list of players with wingspans that front offices covet. But only a handful of those players have the vision to pair it up with. Ingram has an extensive portfolio of dimes that make fans wonder if he’s viewing the game through an ‘eye-in-the-sky’ 2K-type of camera. Even when Ingram leaves his feet - by choice or unintentionally - he’s still able to throw strikes from angles that shouldn’t be possible.

Break starter

Ingram is a fairly active weak-side defender and rebounder, which subsequently puts him in a position to ignite fast breaks. The film above is reminiscent of Barnes and Pascal Siakam teaming up for easy points in transition. When defences stifle the initial look in transition, Ingram’s ability to score from anywhere on the court eventually reveals secondary windows.

One skip away

Defenders respect Ingram’s scoring prowess off the dribble. Teams often ask their bigs to meet Ingram at near screen-depth, and have an off-ball defender tag the roller. This leaves the weak side corner susceptible to open looks. Ingram is an expert at getting the ball to the corner shooter with accuracy and velocity. We know Ochai Agbaji is elite in the corner role. Gradey Dick is above average when he’s confident. But can RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes - when he’s not in the screen action - be efficient in this spot, with the expectation that they’ll be on the court during crunch time with Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl?

Reviving dead-ball scenarios

Like many of the midrange greats, Ingram enjoys a good pump fake or two, but sometimes it leaves him stuck on an island. But even when Ingram picks up his dribble or jumps in the air, he’s still very much a problem for defences.

Five-out

It won’t be common this season, but there will be opportunities for the Raptors to showcase Ingram’s passing in five-out lineups. A unit that includes Quickly, Agbaji, Dick, and Mamukelashvili would be a fun group that unlocks additional spacing for Ingram, especially when Barnes and Barrett need a breather.

Set up shop

Ingram also enjoys operating out of the corner where opposing defences must cope with limited coverage options. Ingram still has access to his arsenal of midrange counters, but defences can only do so much when a clear-out cut is used or a screener gets involved.