Brandon Ingram has yet to debut for the Toronto Raptors, but that doesn’t mean he’s just sitting around twiddling his thumbs.
Suffering a severe ankle sprain on Dec. 7 while a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, the team’s major trade deadline acquisition has been slowly integrating into the franchise since arriving in Toronto earlier this month.
“He’s rehabbing. Our medical [staff], our coaches are learning him at the same time, what he’s capable to do,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics.
“We’re breaking down his recovery and this plan into two-week chunks, and every two weeks, we’re going to give an update how he’s doing, how he’s progressing.”
An NBA All-Star in 2020, Ingram has averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game with the Pelicans this season.
“I think he’s an amazing talent, one of the best shooters in the league. So we’re definitely excited to have him join our team and to learn our style, to learn how we want to play, how we want to share the ball,” Rajakovic added.
With the Raptors set for a four-game road trip beginning tonight in Indiana, the Raptors’ head coach says he plans to get to know Ingram a little bit better while on the road.
“We have a great communication talking about a lot of stuff,” Rajakovic said.”“I’m planning to meet with him on this road trip as well, just to continue watching film and diving into his game and how that translates in our team.”
As for his teammates, they’re looking forward to hopefully getting the chance to play with Ingram soon. With 24 games left in a season where Toronto sits 13th in the Eastern Conference, they’re hoping to build up some chemistry with him before the end of the campaign.
“We don’t quit, and we’re going to fight against anybody,” RJ Barrett said to a question asked about what Ingram should know about the team.
“We share the ball very well. We play hard, play together, we’re scrappy, lot of defensive intensity, together [as a] team. When one guy falls, we run over, pick him up, so he’ll kind of learn that about us.”
