The 2025 NBA trade deadline has concluded and the Toronto Raptors made three great moves.
Toronto traded Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a 2026 top-four protected first-round pick via the Indiana Pacers, and a 2031 second-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for Brandon Ingram.
Toronto gets an All-Star for two role players who wouldn’t be on this team long-term. They also didn’t give up their draft capital to get Ingram.
The Raptors only traded a first-round pick that they got from the Pacers and a second-round pick. Both picks aren’t going to hurt the team’s future.
Ingram gives the Raptors scoring. He’s currently averaging 22.2 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 5.2 assists per game.
Ingram’s field percentage this season is 46.5 per cent, and his three-point field goal percentage is 37.4 per cent.
Toronto’s field goal percentage is 46.9 per cent and 35.0 per cent in three-point field goal percentage. Ingram will help them improve their offense, especially with the three-point shots.
His pairing with Scottie Barnes will be great. Barnes’ life got easier because he has all of the options to pass the ball and have players like RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick and Immanuel Quickley to make the shot.
The reason why some fans might not like this trade is because of Ingram’s health. He’s considered to be injury-prone.
Ingram is still out due to an ankle sprain injury from the Dec. 8, 2024 game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Another reason why fans do not like this trade is because the Raptors are a rebuilding team. Getting Ingram isn’t typically a move that a rebuilding team makes.
If fans are worried about this hurting Toronto’s chances of getting a top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, it won’t.
The Raptors can still get a top pick if they make it to the play-in. The Atlanta Hawks showed everyone that a team can be a play-in team while getting the first pick.
What about the worries of Ingram leaving the Raptors in free agency and signing with another team?
Atlanta just made trades to clear cap space and they were interested in Ingram before Toronto got the trade done. The Hawks could sign Ingram in the summer with that cap space.
But there’s no way Toronto does this trade if they don’t believe they can re-sign or extend Ingram’s contract.
What other trades happened for the Raptors?
Another move Toronto made was trading Davion Mitchell to the Miami Heat for PJ Tucker, a 2026 second-round pick and cash consideration. They will most likely buy out Tucker’s contract.
Right now, there isn’t any confirmation that he will get buy out but Raptors General Manager said he doesn’t expect Tucker to play for Toronto.
Mitchell played well for the Raptors but he’s a restricted free agent that could command a lot of money.
Toronto needed to trade so they had enough money to re-sign Ingram. And the Raptors have Jamal Shead on the team, so Mitchell was expendable.
The other trade Toronto made was getting James Wiseman from the Indiana Pacers for cash consideration. Once the trade became official, the Raptors waived Wiseman.
If I had to give a grade, I would give Toronto an A. The Raptors got an All-Star without giving up too much while not harming their chances of getting a top pick in the draft.
