Raptors, Brandon Ingram Talking Contract Extension

February 10, 2025

The Toronto Raptors’ NBA trade-deadline acquisition of Brandon Ingram raised some eyebrows, particularly due to the team’s 16-37 record and Ingram’s reputation as a win-now player.

But general manager Bobby Webster, appearing on First Up on TSN1050, insisted that the team is “not putting the cart before the horse” and described last Thursday as “a great day for the rebuild.”

“We got younger, we opened up playing time, we were able to use a lot of the flexibility under the tax to take on contracts, draft picks, pick up some cash along the way,” Webster said, referring to the Raptors’ deadline moves.

Those moves included trading Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk to New Orleans for Ingram, and sending out Davion Mitchell in a separate deal.

“We opened up a lot of playing time for our young players,” Webster added. “People have seen with our rookies, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, and Jamison Battle and Ulrich Chomche, then second- and third-year guys like Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji — I think the opportunity that moving some of these old guys will afford the young players, we’ll see.”

Webster also emphasized that Ingram isn’t much older than the Raptors’ core, pointing to a belief within the organization that they could take a significant step forward as soon as next season, but that they won’t rush the process.

“Scottie Barnes is 23, Immanuel Quickley is 25, RJ Barrett is 24, Brandon is still just 27, so I think even from that perspective it’s a young core,” Webster said. “We’ll continue the rebuild, I think this is a progress. No change in progress or timeline.”

As for Ingram’s future in Toronto, Webster remains optimistic.

“We’re having [contract] discussions now,” he said. “We wouldn’t do the deal unless we felt there was a comfort level with what he was looking for, what we were able to offer, an interest level in coming to Toronto. Hopefully we can get something done.”