Brandon Ingram is poised to help the Raptors finish strong
For the first time since 2021-22, the Raptors are fighting for a top 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. Among teams that loaded up at the trade deadline, the Raptors are not only hoping to sustain, but to improve by getting healthier versions of players — hello Jakob Poeltl & RJ Barrett — and enhancing how their current rotation of players manages to gel – particularly on offense.
Sitting at the heart of it all is Brandon Ingram. I’ve had a few big time Ingram fans tell me that he is an excellent post-All-Star-break player, so I went and looked at it. In 2022-23, he played 21 of a possible 23 games to close the season, and did so to the tune of 27ppg, 7apg, 6rpg on 59% true-shooting. A brilliant stretch of play that unfortunately only resulted in an 12-11 stretch for the Pelicans and a Play-In matchup against the Thunder where Ingram and the Pelicans failed to jump into the playoffs, similarly to the Raptors that year. Otherwise though, Ingram has hardly played games after the All-Star break.
In 2023-24, 13 of a possible 27 games played and to the tune of only 18 points a night. In 2024-25 he was seated, watching the Raptors trying to deftly lose their way through the back end of the schedule. More trouble in 2021-22 as he played 10 of a possible 22 games. He broke onto the scene in the 2019-20 season that was shortened by COVID and since then a good deal of his seasons have been getting shortened through injury. So, the first thing that has to happen? Ingram has to stay healthy. He and the Raptors have done a wonderful job of keeping him on the court. 53 of a possible 55 games played is a tremendous starting point.
Against the Bulls, and to open up what will hopefully be a tremendous second half of the season, Ingram shot into the game and into the Chicago paint like a cannon. To this point in the season he’s been averaging around 10-11 drives per game (depending on if you like NBA dot com stats or Synergy) but he put his head down for 17 of them last night creating 10 points for himself and 6 points for his teammates (who shot 2-6 on the shots he created).
“I just had the mentality to be aggressive.” Ingram said of his extra burst. “Just from previous years how it is coming off of All-Star break. Guys taking breaks and coming in a little rusty. So, I thought it was important for me to go out and just be aggressive whether the shot was going in or not.”
Click here to better understand the lack of shot making the Raptors have on Ingram passes.
In a game where the Raptors shot 7/23 from downtown and on one besides Ingram cleared 14 points, his indomitable driving spirit was the life blood of their offense. There’s things they have to clearly address and try to enhance, but against a weaker Bulls team the Raptors went back to the well of: let Ingram carry us. He carried early, often, and late.
“It’s a huge luxury for me as a coach to have him in those situations.” Coach Darko said after the Bulls win. “He’s not getting rattled. He gets to spots on the floor and he reads the game really well. If he has a good shot, he’s gonna take it, but he also does a really good job of playmaking – he had 6 assists – he did a really good job of finding open people.”
The Raptors can look at Ingram’s tremendous run to finish the 2022-23 season. Hell, they can even look at the 3rd ranked defense that the Pelicans had over their last 23 games of that season as somewhat of a blueprint. But, if they do get the type of health they need from Ingram in addition to an excellent offensive stretch? They need to hope for a little bit more than the 12-11 record that the Pelicans managed to cobble together to finish their season. Ingram wants to be a voice on the Raptors to help guide them through the finish.
“Well, I definitely want to pick my spots. Talking when it’s important.” Ingram said. “I don’t wanna just be ‘rah rah’ and having people hearing my voice for no reason. I definitely want to let guys know that these games are important and to stay ready every time they step on the floor. It’s gonna prepare us for our goal that we want to attack.”
The Raptors have figured out the answer to quite a few questions so far this season. If you were wondering about potential stardom for year 6 players, or maybe if a year 3 guy could hang in a playoff rotation – some of those things have been settled. The ceiling of the team this year seems fairly concrete. However, there are still unrealized gains on this roster, and just like he has been through the front half of this season, Ingram is a calming ballast helping the Raptors to facilitate an environment for not only development, but development under winning conditions – a far more important kind, in my opinion.
Ingram will have the possessions and the shots to bring the burner out to finish the season. More than anything though, his continued health is what will allow other players who are currently behind the eight ball, to try and get out in front of it.
Have a blessed day.
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