The hope is that a healthy Ingram helps improve the Raptors’ tepid half-court offence, and the backline of Barnes and Poeltl and can make up for some defensive shortcomings on the perimeter. If Ingram plays his best basketball, the cost of the acquisition will seem reasonable.

Wednesday, the eve of the trade deadline, ended up being Ingram’s last day as a Pelican. It's a trade that feels a lot like one the Saints made in early November when they traded Marshon Lattimore. Both Ingram and Lattimore will go down as arguably the best player at their position in their team's history. Both were plagued by injuries.

Ingram stopped and glanced over, giving a subtle head nod. The Raptors acquired the former All-Star and Most Improved Player in a trade agreed upon late Wednesday night. Ingram is still getting to know his teammates. He said he chatted with the face of the franchise, Scottie Barnes, whom Ingram assessed as a “goofball” off the court.

The Toronto Raptors and newly acquired forward Brandon Ingram have reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension worth $120 million, according to NBA insiders Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN.

"New Toronto Raptors star Brandon Ingram has agreed to a three-year, $120 million contract extension with the franchise, including a player option in 2027-28, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, agents Shy Saee and Mike George told me and @BobbyMarks42." -Shams Charania on Twitter/X

Brandon Ingram has a $120 million extension from the Raptors before ever playing a game for Toronto. The recently acquired forward agreed to the deal Tuesday, less than a week after the Raptors got him from the New Orleans Pelicans.

Adding Brandon Ingram from Pelicans is a positive step for Raptors, but they have multiple moves to make in order to build a winner

Brandon Ingram is excited to be a member of the Toronto Raptors. According to multiple reports, Ingram had targeted Toronto or Atlanta as his ideal landing spots, per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, as the 27-year-old ultimately landed with the Raptors.