A flurry of trade activity Wednesday in the NBA in advance of Thursday's NBA trade deadline yielded several big deals. The Raptors made a curious trade as they added Brandon Ingram from the Pelicans.
NBA Trade Deadline Reactions
Raptors Ad Brandon Ingram
Raptors trade Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk + First Round Draft Pick + Second Round Draft Pick in exchange for Brandon Ingram From Pelicans
- Not much in the way of betting market reaction here; we'll see what their win total looks like when the market re-opens by Friday. Neither team is a serious contender for playoffs or playoff success.
- The move was a little baffling by the Raptors and I got several DMs from Raptors-associated folks puzzled by it. The team needs to get a great draft pick this year, Ingram doesn't help with that. He's too good not to play and too good not to help you win but also not good enough to make you win more than you lose.
- Ingram effectively is a guaranteed ticket to "Better Than .500 But Worse than .600."
- Ingram is a high-usage low-efficiency player who is at beat a sub-average defender. He's not a sieve or terrible but he's also not a player who gets into the opponent's body and disrupts possessions.
- Offensively, he's always struggled with taking more 3's than mid-range shots. He is a real Hooper's Hooper. However, that lack of spacing to the perimeter hurts when you're trying to build around Scottie Barnes.
- Ingram made huge strides as a passer the last two years, and he is a better floor general with the ball in his hands than people assume. He's improved there.
- For New Orleans, they shed salary and get picks back for a player they weren't going to extend. This was good return for Ingram, though not the return they likely get last summer if they'd been serious about trading him once he was extension-eligible instead of waiting.
- It is unlikely that the Raptors are improved enough by this deal to make the playoffs, especially considering Ingram remains out with an injury.
- The Pelicans seem to finally realize it's time to build around Trey Murphy III. But where does that leave Zion Williamson?
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