Brandon Ingram’s health, RJ Barrett’s close return highlight positive holiday signs for Raptors

’Tis the season for positivity.

In that spirit, we’re going to shrug off all the lumps of coal the Toronto Raptors have been delivering to their fans lately and focus on some reasons for festive cheer.

AGAINST ALL ODDS

When the Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram just a month into 2025, there was some puzzlement about the deal — were they far enough into the rebuild to add someone as talented at that point, would it make sense to add a big new contract into the mix?

But our biggest question was whether betting on Ingram to stay healthy made any sense.

Ingram had suffered a severe ankle injury two months prior and would go on to not be able to play the rest of the season and wasn’t 100% even heading into the summer.

This wasn’t a one-off, either. After missing only three games as a rookie, Ingram was out for 23, 30, 10, 11, 27, 37 and then 18 games (with the two shortest absence seasons coming in condensed campaigns due to the pandemic).

While none of the previous injuries were chronic, being unavailable for about a quarter of games during a career is not ideal and Ingram’s slim profile never has screamed “this player is well-suited to withstand the NBA’s grind.”

Yet, against all odds, Ingram leads the NBA in games played to this point of the 2025-26 season and is averaging 34.3 minutes a game, tied for his career high.

There’ve been a few scares when Ingram’s ankle has been tweaked, including last week, but he has responded well and is purposefully trying to answer the critics who argued he wouldn’t play at less than 100% over the years.

It’s a point of pride for Ingram as last season in particular was tough, since he loves to play basketball.

“Always gotta try to give myself grace,” Ingram said when asked by the Toronto Sun recently how he feels things have gone so far with about a third of the year completed.

“Coming off a season where I think only played in 17 games. It’s an OK start for me. Of course, I expect better for myself every single night, and I learn in wins and losses, but I’m happy that I’m able to be on the floor every single night for sure,” Ingram told a few reporters following a recent loss against Boston where he scored 24 points in 35 minutes.

BARRETT ON THE MEND

A key piece of the offence is nearing a return and the Raptors badly need it.

Toronto’s offence didn’t go from near the top of the league to the very bottom just because of RJ Barrett’s injury, but it played a key role in the shocking free fall.

Barrett has been exceptional at moving defences thanks to his ability to create downhill pressure with his relentless drives to the basket. He had also improved as a playmaker this season, ideally complementing Ingram and Scottie Barnes even as his touches and place in the pecking order diminished (Barrett led the Raptors in scoring in the previous two seasons).

In the weeks since his non-contact injury, several players were given the opportunity to step up and all fell flat.

Gradey Dick’s third year has been uninspiring, to say the least. Ja’Kobe Walter’s second hasn’t been much better. Ochai Agbaji, the latest fill-in starter, has been mediocre at best — a far cry from last year’s breakdown campaign which teased that he could be a rotation-level two-way player.

None of them are multi-threats the way Barrett is. They aren’t going to beat defenders off the dribble often, they aren’t going to get to the line and they aren’t really superior as catch-and-shoot threats, either.

Agbaji and Walter offer better all-around defence than Barrett, but he had improved in the area too before getting hurt.

They need him back and he’s close to getting cleared for contact and should return in the New Year or hopefully earlier. In recent days, Barrett has taken part in pre-game work on the court with assistant coaches, which obviously is a good sign.

A silver lining of his layoff is that it has proven Toronto would be unwise to trade Barrett away, an oft-mentioned idea heading into the season.

ROOKIE NOT OUT OF PLACE

The Raptors couldn’t afford to strike out in this past June’s draft. They don’t pick in the Top 10 too often and hope not to be back there for a while.

While it’s unclear what kind of ceiling Collin Murray-Boyles has, it’s obvious he is — at worst — a quality backup big man capable of guarding multiple positions.

Unlike most first-year players Murray-Boyles has been able to guard NBAers right away. He has a knack for rebounding, is extremely strong, has shot the ball far better than he did in college and also has flashed some passing skills.

It’s not ideal that the team’s top prospect’s path to big minutes are blocked by Barnes. He needs to play more than he has, somehow, even if it’s out of position at centre, given the team’s major issues there. But at least CMB looks like a solid player.

The team’s 39th pick in June, Alijah Martin, an NCAA champion with Florida, has been fantastic for Raptors 905, which went unbeaten through 16 games — a new G League record — before finally falling Monday in the G League Winter Showcase final.

Martin has averaged 18.8 points, 2.1 combined steals and blocks and has shot 41% on three-pointers and nearly 50% from the field overall.

Teammate Chucky Hepburn, a shrewd undrafted free agent signing post-draft, also has been a catalyst for Raptors 905. Another defensive stalwart, Hepburn has averaged 2.2 steals per game and the ACC defensive player of the year last year has handed out 9.2 assists.

In today’s NBA, having players on rookie-scale contracts that can contribute — which Murray-Boyles is already doing and Martin and Hepburn appear capable of down the line — is worth its weight in gold. Especially for a team with luxury tax issues now and moving forward like the Raptors.

And while we’re at it, to finish on a positive, how about Jamal Shead, the 45th pick in 2025, another rookie scale contract player who is making a big impact for the Raptors?

Shead leads all sophomores in assists and, if the draft was held again today, would easily crack the first round and maybe even the late lottery given it wasn’t the deepest class.

@WolstatSun