Brandon Ingram’s name has been floated in the trade market all year. He finally got moved with a solid 15 hours to spare until Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. He will head to Toronto in a package headlined by fellow trade target Bruce Brown and draft equity.
Was that price fair for the one-time All-Star? And how much sense does Ingram make in Toronto? Here’s how both teams did in the trade.
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Brandon Ingram trade details
Raptors receive:
- Brandon Ingram
Pelicans receive:
- Bruce Brown
- Kelly Olynyk
- 2026 Pacers first-round pick
- Second-round pick
MORE: Tracking the latest rumors ahead of the NBA trade deadline
Raptors trade grade
The Raptors have been aggressive in completely rebuilding their team from the one led by Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby at the start of last year. Ingram continues the trend of getting talented younger players into their starting lineup. At age 27, Toronto will now have him in his prime years.
Toronto has not been a good offensive ballclub since getting rid of Siakam, and the one thing Ingram can certainly do is score the ball. He’s been averaging 22.2 points and 5.2 assists this season on about league-average efficiency.
He has one of the better midrange jumpers in the league, which he will go to frequently. He’s also a good pick-and-roll player who can both get to his spots and distribute the ball.
The fit next to RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Immanuel Quickley will be interesting. The Pelicans have tried to get Ingram shooting more 3’s in order to be a stronger off-ball threat. The career 36.3 percent 3-point shooter has bought in, taking a career-high 6.4 attempts per game this season. Hopefully that mentality continues in Toronto. But he’s at his best with the ball in his hands, which could make things tricky.
Ingram does have good size at 6-foot-8, but he’s never quite lived up to his defensive potential. The Raptors will once again have great length throughout their wing rotation with Ingram, Barnes, and Barrett.
Ingram’s injury history is also a bit of a concern. He’s averaged under 60 games per season throughout his NBA career. He played in 64 last year, admirably trying to grind his way through a late-season injury but looking ineffective in the playoffs.
Because free agents rarely choose Toronto, the Raptors’ acquisition of a player like Ingram through trade is a smart move. Using minimal draft capital from their eight available first-round picks makes this an especially savvy pickup, preserving their flexibility for a future, potentially larger, star acquisition.
Ingram is going to get paid this summer. He was seeking a four-year extension worth over $200 million, which the Pelicans were unwilling to provide. Toronto has strategically cleared up salary cap space, notably by trading Olynyk’s long-term money, in order to make that commitment more manageable.
We’ll have to see what his new deal is before judging this trade completely. Ingram is a good player. If he gets a long-term deal averaging over $40 million annually, then it starts to look a lot worse for the Raptors.
Raptors grade: B
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Pelicans trade grade
We can assume that this was the best offer the Pelicans got, because they were fielding them for months and there were very few rumors around Ingram’s name. Teams were scared off by the prospect of having to give a good-not-great player a ton of money in the league’s new restrictive cap environment.
The Pelicans were among them. They already have big money committed to Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy III, and others. Keeping Ingram would have created luxury tax concerns, which is a nonstarter for them.
Brown’s expiring contract helps them clean up their books a little bit. Olynyk is owed $13.4 million next year, and that’s an overpay for a big man who has lost the little defensive mobility that he had before. But he’s still a great shooter who can fill the backup slot left by recently traded Daniel Theis.
The big get here for the Pelicans is the draft equity. That 2026 Pacers pick probably won’t be in the lottery, but a middling first-rounder and a second-round pick for a guy that wasn’t a part of their future plans isn’t a terrible package to get back.
The Hawks were also rumored to be interested towards the end of negotiations. The Pelicans did a good job of getting two teams to bid against each other to get the most that they could out of this deal.
Pelicans grade: B