Raptors' Brandon Ingram Has One Thing Holding Him Back

Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram has been excellent in his first season with the team.

Ingram is averaging 22 points per game while shooting just over 47 per cent from the field. He also made his first All-Star team since 2020 and has found himself again after brutal injury luck the last couple of seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans. While Ingram has been very good for the Raptors, he still has room for growth and can take another step in the right direction.

"Relative to his peers, Brandon Ingram is probably still overreliant on the mid-range. And ho-hum rebound, block and steal rates help suppress his advanced numbers," Bleacher Report contributor Andy Bailey wrote. "But his willingness to be just one leg under a pretty balanced scoring table has contributed to the Toronto Raptors' push for a top-four seed in the East."

Brandon Ingram Should Shoot More Threes

Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram drives for the basket against Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Ingram is a pretty good three-point shooter, making just under 37 per cent of his attempts from beyond the arc. He is shooting slightly better than his career average this season, and he ranks fourth on the team in the category behind Immanuel Quickley, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jamison Battle.

If Ingram shot more threes, it's possible that his scoring average would increase, and that could lead to a stronger offense, but there is no guarantee of that. Ingram is very comfortable in the mid-range, and sometimes that often goes overlooked in today's game. With so much emphasis on the three-point shot, there is somewhat of a lack of sexiness when it comes to a generic 17-footer.

That being said, as long as the ball goes in, that's what matters. The Raptors shoot plenty of threes as a team, and they feel confident in Ingram getting his shot wherever that may be on the floor. Shooting more of them could be a slight tweak in Ingram's game, but there is reason to believe it could backfire on them as well.

The Raptors are going to go through the rest of this season sticking to what has gotten them in the top group of teams in the East. When the offseason comes along, maybe there will be times for a shake up in terms of philosophy when it comes to people's individual games.

Ingram and the Raptors face off against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:30 p.m. ET inside Scotiabank Arena. Fans can watch the game on TSN Sports or stream it on NBA League Pass.