Right on the heels of trading for Brandon Ingram before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, the Toronto Raptors have extended the contract of the 6-foot-8 wing. The new deal is worth $120 million over the next three seasons, meaning Ingram will average $40 million per season, with the last year being a player option.
While an extension was always logical, given that Toronto relinquished assets to get him, the amount here seems aggressive. There’s a reason Ingram was available to begin with, and a big part of that is his history of being a reluctant 3-point shooter, and more of a midrange assassin, which in today’s NBA isn’t necessarily what teams need.
While Ingram has increased his 3-point rate this season, his free-throw rate has almost been cut in half, due to his continued reliance on the midrange shot. Overall, 38.4% of his offense is made up of attempts between 10 feet and the 3-point line, with his at-rim shot rate an all-time low at just 11.7% of his offense.
This isn’t to say Ingram is a bad player. In fact, he’s quite potent in several areas. But he continues to be his own worst enemy, in large part due to his shot profile, which leaves a lot to be desired, especially when you consider his ball-handling ability for his size and position is significantly above average.
Essentially, Ingram isn’t someone who gets the most out of his talent, and that makes him an odd fit on a team that already has two forwards in place (Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett), neither of whom is a seamless long-range shooter. Availability has also been an issue for Ingram who has played in only 18 of the Pelicans’ 53 games this season due to an ankle injury. He’s struggled to stay on the court throughout his nine-year career, eclipsing 70 games in a season just once and averaging 57 games in the seven seasons before this one.
With the follow-up decision to extend him to a contract that seems unnecessarily rich, you have to wonder what Toronto’s plan is here.
If the franchise is looking at Ingram as a real, long-term piece — and his contract extension appears to be a reflection of how the Raptors view him — that’s problematic moving forward.
If, instead, the Raptors extended him in the hopes of rehabbing his value going into the summer and then re-aligning their roster this offseason by using him as a trade chip, that would make more sense.
However, how many teams are actively interested in being in the Brandon Ingram business?
The Pelicans spent months trying to unload him, with not a lot of interest generated by outside teams during that time. With Ingram now on a substantial deal, and in control of his own future via his player option, can we even assume the Raptors will have trade partners this offseason?
Ingram, more than likely, won’t be keen on dramatically altering his game. The Pelicans tried for years to make him more efficient, but the 27-year-old never appeared ready to commit to making a real change.
This contract could become a major hurdle for Toronto moving forward, especially if Ingram proves a poor fit alongside Barnes, who in many ways is a younger version of him, albeit levels ahead defensively.
Hell, you can make an argument that Barrett can be added to that pot, with Toronto now in possession of three wings who are fine playmakers with the ball in their hands, but who can’t consistently create solid outside looks for themselves, nor act as high-volume, off-ball roamers.
The term “clogged paint” might be mentioned quite a bit on Raptors broadcasts for the remainder of the season.
Of course, the Raptors could be planning to retain Ingram and move off Barrett instead. That would help solve something, as long as the return they get helps their floor spacing.
Even so, Toronto will need to thoroughly build its roster through Barnes, and not Ingram, which is what makes the acquisition, and now extension, odd. Historically, Ingram has proven difficult to incorporate as a plug-and-play individual. Instead, both the Lakers and Pelicans have had to bend players around his game.
Given that Toronto is already doing that with Barnes, adding another player to bend players around seems like a lot of additional work, with the result likely never being worth the squeeze.
