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"I think in general it went a little under-reported, if I can use that term," he said when asked about what adding Ingram to the Raptors will mean. "Our organization did not get enough credit for having the ability to, first of all, trade for this player and then to sign him on a long-term deal. I think it's going to be very positive for our organization and for our team.
In his injury-derailed 2024-25 campaign, Ingram averaged 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 46.5/37.4/85.5 per cent shooting splits. Through 495 career NBA games split between the Los Angeles Lakers (190) and the New Orleans Pelicans (305), the former Most Improved Player holds averages of 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 46.8/36.3/78.8 splits.
'We're making the playoffs': Ingram confident in Raptors' chances
The Raptors acquired Ingram at last season's trade deadline in exchange for Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, a 2026 first-round pick via the Indiana Pacers and Toronto's own 2031 second-rounder. About a week later, Ingram and the Raptors agreed to a three-year, $120 million extension.
"He's been in the league for quite some time ... (but) he's still a very young player, I really see a lot of room for his growth," Rajakovic added. "He's very committed, working really hard. He spent a lot of time this off-season trying to get his health in the right place ... he's just building a strong foundation this summer that he's going to be able to carry when the season starts."
And it's no secret that Ingram has plenty of confidence that he'll be able to return without a hitch and make an impact with Toronto, saying last week that the Raptors would "make the playoffs for sure."
While Rajakovic feels the Raptors added a game-changer in Ingram, he wasn't quite ready to make the kind of proclamation his star forward did when asked about the team making its first playoff appearance since 2022.
"I can never promise anything," Rajakovic explained. "What I can promise is extremely hard work, a team that's going to be connected and playing and competing to the highest level.
We enter every single game with the ambition to win and we're confident that we can win every single game ... everything else is going to be an outcome of our hard work and togetherness we display over the course of the whole year."
