Darko Rajakovic Excited to Work with Brandon Ingram This Summer

Brandon Ingram and the Toronto Raptors continue to watch the Eastern Conference Semifinals play out from home after falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. In order to get back to the playoffs next year, and hopefully advance to the second round at least, the Raptors have work to do in terms of progression and roster retooling to put themselves in the best possible scenario against a soon-to-be loaded Eastern Conference. 

Ingram, in particular, needs to do the same thing he did last offseason: focus on getting healthy. It’s no secret that durability is not a strength of the former No. 2 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft; he hadn’t played more than 65 games in a season before this year since his rookie year. He only missed five games in the 2025-26 regular season, but a nagging heel injury turned into a detrimental one to the Raptors’ hopes of advancing to the second round. 

Before he was ruled out for the remainder of the series, the former Duke Blue Devil was struggling beyond just missing a few shots. The Cavaliers did an excellent job of limiting his attempts, and when he was able to get the ball more, he was horribly inefficient. He went from the Raptors’ regular-season leader in scoring to a detriment to the offense in the playoffs. 

Head coach Darko Rajakovic discussed the two-time All-Star in his final media session of the season, expressing his support and excitement to continue to work with him. 

“I think that [Ingram] did [a] really good job this season overall when you look at it,” said Rajakovic. “When I look at BI and think what’s coming in next five months, five and a half months, [it] is taking his game to the next level, taking his game physically, the pace that we’re running with, the ability to run in transition. When I look at BI, I see a player that can rebound the ball on defensive end and can push the ball in transition. I need to put the ball more in his hands in the half-court early in the shot clock so he can playmake for his teammates because with his size, with his skill, he’s very capable to create his own shots and also find his teammates. So, there is a lot of stuff that I am really excited about when I look at this summer and when I look at what BI can do for us going forward.” 

Ingram truly is a special talent on the offensive end, given his size and fluidity. There’s a reason he was compared to Kevin Durant when he was drafted, and that’s largely due to his ability to find his spots on the court and elevate over defenders to hit shots from all three levels. He got back to that unstoppable dominance this season, earning him the second All-Star selection of his career. 

His dropoff in the playoffs was concerning; had he played to a similar level as the regular season, the Raptors most likely would be playing against the Detroit Pistons right now. Injuries are always going to be an excuse for poor play (and it’s a valid one in Ingram’s case), but it does leave a significant question of whether he can be a playoff riser, considering he hasn’t yet proven it in his 10-year career. Part of that comes with only making the playoffs three times, but he’s had 15 games to display his typical shine from the regular season, but really has only done so in two or three games, all of which were four years ago.