There might not be much of an immediate return on investment for this season when it comes to one big NBA trade deadline acquisition.
On Wednesday, the Toronto Raptors formally introduced new star forward Brandon Ingram to the media. During the media session, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said that he is “not even sure” if Ingram will be able to play in games for Toronto this season. Rajakovic added that the focus is on getting Ingram into the best position as possible for the 2025-26 campaign, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.
The 27-year-old Ingram, an All-Star in 2020, was just acquired by the Raptors as part of a multi-player deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. But he has not played in over two months now due to an ankle injury, and it appears that Ingram may still have a long way to go in his recovery.
Toronto does not have a lot left to play for this season at 17-37 (13th in the East). But the Ingram news is still fairly concerning given that the Raptors just gave Ingram a lucrative multi-year extension soon after trading for him.
Rajakovic did add too that Toronto plans to re-evaluate Ingram in two-week intervals to gauge how he is progressing. Only about eight weeks are left in the NBA regular season though, so Ingram may be facing a race against the clock at this point.
If the goal is to get Ingram ready for 2025-26, then holding him out for the remainder of this season might be the correct move, especially given the Raptors’ position in the standings. But Ingram can test free agency in 2027, and now it looks like one of the years that he is still under contract for may end up being a wash.
