Brandon Ingram Praises Toronto Raptors' Chemistry Despite First Round Exit

With the expected first-round series loss for the Toronto Raptors, questions will surround the team regarding who should stay and who should go next year. One fact that goes without question is the significant improvement the franchise made this season after missing the playoffs for three straight seasons. Going from winning just 30 games in the regular season to 46 the very next year is worthy of praise and should be something to think about when assembling the roster this offseason.

A large part of the drastic success is the addition of two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram. While he didn’t have his best playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing through the heel injury until he couldn’t anymore, the Raptors’ leading scorer from the regular season immediately became the team’s number one option down the stretch. 

After the season finished, he praised his teammates and expressed the love they have for each other.

“Most teams that I’ve been on, you have some guys in groups, some guys that don’t really hang out with each other, or don’t really care about the game of basketball,” said Ingram. “This group is just different. I think the first thing is they care for each other. The second thing is, they care for basketball.” 

General manager Bobby Webster was quiet at the midseason trade deadline on Feb. 5th, and that had a large part to do with the preferences of Ingram and franchise cornerstone Scottie Barnes. There were several rumors swirling around potential superstars that the Raptors could acquire, but they valued their stars’ opinions, which were to see this season out with this core group. 

Time will tell whether that was the right decision for the franchise’s direction moving forward. Team chemistry is extremely important, and Webster proving to the stars that he has their back means a lot when it comes to them staying in Toronto down the road. At the end of the day, though, people don’t remember teams that are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. 

The ultimate goal in professional sports is to win a championship, and this core may not be good enough to contend in the coming years. Despite the immense progress, the Raptors faced significant problems throughout both the regular and postseason. Specifically, fourth-quarter and bench scoring were not only insufficient, but they were among the worst in the NBA. 

They can hang their hat on the unbelievable defense they played throughout the whole year, but they need to find some sort of resolution to the scoring issues. It would be reasonable to think the leading scorer should be the answer, but if he continues to perform as he did in the playoffs, the Raptors will be stuck in mediocrity for the foreseeable future.