The Toronto Raptors didn’t get the star-heavy showdown plenty of fans had in mind against the Los Angeles Clippers, but Brandon Ingram still managed to become part of the night.
Both Ingram and Kawhi Leonard sat out the game with various ailments, yet Ingram was in the building and got a warm welcome from his former teammates. After the Raptors sent their well wishes to former first-round pick Gradey Dick, who was also sent to LA as a byproduct of the Leonard trade, a group led by Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett gathered around Ingram in plain clothes to show their appreciation for what he meant to the Toronto locker room.
That reaction made sense. Ingram spent only one season with the Raptors, but it was enough to leave a mark.
Toronto brought him in at the 2025 trade deadline after years of frustration with the New Orleans Pelicans, then signed him to a three-year contract extension. The Raptors were looking for half-court scoring to ease the burden on Scottie Barnes, and Ingram gave them exactly that.
He played 77 regular season games after appearing in just 18 the year before, putting up 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. That production earned him his second All-Star nod.
His playoff run, though, didn’t go nearly as well. A poor, injury-limited series against the Cleveland Cavaliers made him expendable.
In all likelihood, Ingram would have remained in Toronto if a player of Leonard’s caliber had not wanted to sign a long-term extension with the Raptors. That changed the equation fast, and Toronto clearly decided Leonard was worth the swing.
For Ingram, the move sends him to a Clippers team in rough shape. Los Angeles is 1-6 to start the season, will send its first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder because of the Paul George trade, and will be without multiple first-rounders as part of its punishment for the Leonard Aspiration scandal. Ingram has not yet played for the Clippers as he recovers from heel surgery to fix a partially torn Achilles.
The Clippers do have some pieces to work with, and Keaton Wagler and Darius Garland could form an interesting backcourt of the future alongside Ingram at small forward. But the bigger picture is ugly in LA, while Toronto is trying to push forward with a real title window after bringing Leonard back.
And for all the roster changes, the bond between Ingram and the Raptors still seems intact. Toronto fans have always leaned into players who come north and give everything they’ve got, and Ingram fit that mold.
He wasn’t perfect, but he worked his butt off and turned in a huge season for the Raptors. That kind of equity tends to stick, and it should earn him cheers when he returns in a few months.
In Other News...
Gradey Dick Is Still Feeling The Raptors Trade Reality
Gradey Dick is still getting used to the strange rhythm of seeing the Raptors on the other side of the floor. In his second game against Toronto since being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Dick handled the matchup like a player who knows the business side of the league but still feels the personal side of it, talking afterward about adjusting to the change while keeping things cordial with his former teammates. He also had a solid night on the court, finishing with 12 points in 28 minutes.
The matchup carried a little extra weight because Brandon Ingram, another piece of the trade, was on the Clippers bench while recovering from injury. For Toronto fans, it was another reminder that the deal is still unfolding in real time, with former faces now scattered and the emotional residue of the move lingering even as both sides move on. Dick may be settling into his new uniform, but the first few meetings with his old team have made clear this one is going to take some getting used to. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors And Cavs Are Headed For A Pressure-Test Debate
The Raptors recent stretch has only sharpened the old reminder of how much Kawhi Leonard once steadied the group in big moments, and it has also made for an interesting comparison with Cleveland. Both teams can look polished when things are going their way, but the conversation around them has shifted toward how they respond when the game gets messy, when a lead starts to shrink and the pressure rises.
For Toronto, that lens matters because the franchise has lived through the difference between regular-season competence and playoff readiness. Cleveland is dealing with its own version of that test, with questions about blown leads, toughness and whether Evan Mobleys growth can help anchor a team that still has to prove it can absorb adversity. The Cavaliers may keep stacking wins over the long haul, but the real debate is whether they can survive the kind of heat the postseason tends to bring. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors Road Comeback Solved One Problem But Exposed Another
The Raptors win over the Clippers offered a useful snapshot of where this group is right now: resilient enough to rally from a double-digit hole in the fourth quarter, but still uneven enough to put itself in that position in the first place. Toronto finished off a 125-118 road victory without Kawhi Leonard and Jakob Poeltl, leaning on Collin Murray-Boyles in a small-ball role at center and getting key defensive work from Scottie Barnes when the game tightened.
Still, the comeback did not erase the issue that created the pressure to begin with. Toronto has made it clear it wants cleaner starts in the games ahead, and that concern will be tested quickly with Denver next on the schedule. The Raptors can take plenty from the way they closed against the Clippers, but they also know they cannot keep asking for late-game rescue acts and expect the same result every night. [Read more 🡒]