The National Basketball Association can be a strange place.
A team can have a player step onto the court who is clearly oozing with talent, and usually that player is best at scoring -- a lot. They fill up the stat sheet with points, which is theoretically how you win a game, but scoring more of those than your opponent. They often are rewarded with accolades like All-Star games and jersey sales.
And yet, those players do not always help a team win. A player can score a lot, receive recognition and praise, and put a ceiling on their team's ability to win at the highest levels. Their scoring is valuable, certainly, but only so much. These players "raise the floor" while also "lowering the ceiling".
That is exactly the kind of player that Brandon Ingram is.
Brandon Ingram lowers their ceiling
This past season, Ingram's first on the Toronto Raptors, he did all of the things a top-notch scorer should do. 21.5 points per game, 38.2 percent from 3-point range, an All-Star berth. That seems like a successful season.
Yet at the same time, Ingram put a clamp on the Raptors' ceiling as a team. He is a fine, not dynamic, passer. He is an inattentive defender whose length goes to waste. He is not providing any rim protection despite standing 6'8" with a 7'3" wingspan.
By slotting Ingram in beside Barnes, the Raptors are introducing a slew of problems. Yes, Ingram can score, but he mostly needs the ball in his hands to do that. And if Scottie is going to defend bigs or roam the paint, that puts pressure on Ingram to defend opposing wings - and he is not up to the task.
The Raptors' offense can only get so good with Ingram and his 47.7 percent field goal percentage taking 17 or 18 shots per game. And their defense could surround him with elite defenders -- which they have done, at times -- and their ceiling is still limited.
The Raptors want to take a step forward this offseason. They will canvass the league for stars on the trade market, everyone from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Jamal Murray. And when they do, they need to put Ingram as the face of any trade offer.
Brandon Ingram needs to be traded
He will make $40 million next season in the second season of the three-year, $120 million contract extension he signed when he arrived in Toronto. That is way too much to pay a player with Ingram's limitations. It's hard to bench a player on that kind of deal, and it prevents the Raptors from having better options ready to slot in.
No matter the trade, the Raptors need Ingram to be in the deal. He won't blow up a deal like Jakob Poeltl and his underwater contract would; he was an All-Star this season. That means something in trade negotiations, even if most NBA GMs are wise to his ceiling-capping limitations.
Toronto has a two-way star in Scottie Barnes. They need to put the best team around him. And Brandon Ingram is not the guy. Barnes is ready to win -- Ingram will hold them back.
