Draft Pick in Brandon Ingram Trade Turns into No. 5 in 2026

The NBA Draft Lottery has finally come, and even though the Toronto Raptors aren’t in the lottery, they were surely watching to see the result of a midseason trade from 2025. The Washington Wizards were the lucky franchise to win the lottery, but the Indiana Pacers lost their 2026 draft pick after trading it to the Los Angeles Clippers. It was top-four protected, and because it fell to the fifth pick, it went to LA instead of staying in Indiana. 

This is important for the Raptors because they traded the pick away. Since January of 2024, the pick has been traded four times, with the first time going to Toronto in the Pascal Siakam trade. It was top-four protected in the original trade, and the Raptors then gave it to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for now two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram. 

Along with the pick, New Orleans received Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, and a 2031 second-round pick. For a former All-Star, this seemed like a no-brainer deal for a team on its way to miss the playoffs for the third straight season. Now looking at the trajectory of the team, along with how poorly Ingram played in the playoffs, it may not have been the best idea to trade the pick. 

Hindsight is always 20/20, but the Raptors have a young core centered around Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Jamal Shead. Had they been able to throw in a top-five pick in one of the deepest drafts in NBA history, they may have been in a better position to contend for a championship in the coming years. The former Duke Blue Devil isn’t old by any means, but at 28 years old, his prime is starting now, so the Raptors are forced to go all-in now if they want to capitalize on his abilities. 

It’s important to note that former Raptors’ executive Masai Ujiri had no idea how good the Pacers’ pick could be at this point. At the time of trading away the pick, Indiana sat at the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-21. There was no indication that they would eventually go on to be in the lottery the next season, especially if Ujiri had known they would make the NBA Finals. 

If the Raptors were given the option today to have Ingram or the fifth pick in the draft, it would be a very tough decision. More often than not, teams would prefer to have a sure-fire All-Star in his prime, as opposed to a draft prospect. In this scenario, though, the Raptors would likely take Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., who is an offensive juggernaut on his own, capable of taking over games on that side of the ball. 

With offense being the major problem for this Toronto team, it may have been worth it to let Acuff run the offense, especially with the rise of RJ Barrett. But again, hindsight is 20/20, and the Ingram trade was fantastic at the time, regardless of the results it will produce.