3 Raptors who won’t be back after Brandon Ingram trade
By Kevin Reyes
The Toronto Raptors threw their name into the conversation for "most shocking trade of the season" yesterday by acquiring Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans. While the move wasn't a surprise from the Pelicans' perspective, considering he will be a free agent this summer, has rejected multiple contract extensions and the ascension of Trey Murphy III moves him down in the Pels future plans, it's surprising at best and puzzling at worst that the Raptors, of all teams, would be the team acquiring BI.
One one hand, they acquired a 27-year-old wing that has averaged 20+ points for five straight seasons, all over 46.0 FG% and with 35.0 3-point shooting in four of five years. He can get it done at all three levels, score tough buckets and can relieve pressure from Scottie Barnes, their 23-year-old franchise wing, and RJ Barrett, the 24-year-old they acquired over the summer who's having a career year.
While they all need the ball — ironically, given the situation Ingram was in before in New Orleans — they're all young and Toronto is in no rush to figure out in a winning situation.
However, on the other hand, the Raptors are playing with fire, as the Ingram addition makes them better and could hamper their chances of landing the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, otherwise known as the "Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes". If the season ended today, they would have the fifth-best odds. And, they also put themselves in the same situation they tried to avoid with Pascal Siakam, which is having to resign a primarily ball-dominant wing in his prime to a max contract (Siakam was 28 when they traded him).
But it's safe to assume that the Raptors see something in Ingram's fit that they didn't with Siakam. I believe they'll make a strong effort to keep him, which should cost at least $25 million a year. Ingram could end up asking for more, and in any case, Toronto traded for his bird rights, which means they can go over the salary cap to retain him. Seeing as they're already way over the salary cap as is, I don't see why they would be shy of going all out to keep him.
In light of that, they'll need to cut ties elsewhere to keep Ingram, and give their core of Barnes, Ingram, Barrett and Immanuel Quickley the runway to play together. Here are three players whose days with the Raptors are numbered.
3. Chris Boucher
This is the easiest pick, as he's a free agent in the summer. Though his role with the team has been inconsistent over his seven seasons with the franchise, Boucher has always been a solid piece to have when the injury bug has hit them. He's a versatile 6-foot-9 big who can spread the floor decently, can score (and he'll certainly keep trying as he's only averaged one assist per game once in his career), and always gives effort when he's on the court. Unfortunately, he's 32 years-old, which doesn't fit the timeline of the rebuild.
They could go younger and chepear at the draft. Plus, they already have someone of that same size and nine years younger on the team in Jonathan Mogbo, who's shown flashes of being a good rotation player in 38 games.
2. Jakob Poeltl
For the last four seasons, Poeltl has been a near double-double machine between his time with the San Antonio Spurs and now with the Raptors. He sets good screens, has good hands to catch and finish at the rim (has shot over 70.0% from 0-3 feet from the rim in 7 of his 9 seasons in the NBA), is very good at defending at the rim and has been very durable for his entire career. Overall, he's the most underrated center in the league.
The price tag shows that, as he's making $19.5 million this season and the next before having a player option for the same amount in the summer of 2026. At that point, he'll be 31 years-old.
While I don't see signs of regression coming — this analysis isn't made with that in mind — I would assume that Poeltl would want, and rightfully so, a pay raise for how good he's been. And, with how hard it is to get centers that are as good as him that aren't max players, I would also assume that there will be multiple suitors for his services.
With that, I don't know if it would be wise for the Raptors to enter that bidding war when they already have Barnes and Quickley making over $32 million, Ingram presumably signing for a similar amount, and Barrett getting an extension (his final season under contract is also 2026-27) for a similar amount. Plus, that's assuming they don't trade him next season, which should be in the cards if they find a suitable replacement in the draft, which is extremely possible if they land in the top five.
1. Gradey Dick
The nightmare of all play-by-play commentators, Dick has had a phenomenal sophomore campaign. Taking the reigns after Toronto lost Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby and Dennis Schroder last season, Dick has shouldered a lot of the offensive burden, especially with the extended absence of Quickley (he's missed 39 games).
He parlayed the flashes he showed at the end of last season (averaged 12.5 points on 37.1 percent 3-point shooting after the All-Star Break) into the start of this season, where he averaged 18.0 points on 35.3 percent fromt deep on 7.0 attempts per game). Though he's hit a bit of a wall since then, he's down to 11.8 points on 32.9 percent 3-point shooting (5.3 attempts per game), I'll blame that on teams adjusting to his offensive explosion, not something to be worried about long-term.
What should be followed long-term is what his role evolves to when this team is healthy. He won't be a part of the starting unit, but he can a great sixth man like Norman Powell was, though his defense will have to hold up and his efficiency has to get better, as he's shot under 43.0 percent shooting in both of his seasons in the NBA. That can happen by getting to the rim more (only 21.8 percent of his field goal attempts are from 0-3 feet from the rim this season) or by becoming more efficient in the mid-range. The year-over-year difference between his shots from 3-10 feet and 10-16 feet is astonishing.
Having said that, like with Powell, if Dick keeps getting better he'll get to a point where his asking price will be too much for the Raptors to afford, even more so now given that they already will presumably have four max contract players locked up. Whatever his price is by 2027, when he hits restricted free agency, will likely be too much for Toronto. Like with Poeltl, an eventual trade could be in the works to avoid losing him for nothing.