Raptors have clear 5th pick regret for Brandon Ingram trade originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Toronto Raptors weren’t far off from having the No. 5 overall pick in the loaded 2026 NBA Draft.
Instead, the Los Angeles Clippers have that pick, that almost belonged to the Indiana Pacers. And in its place, the Raptors have Brandon Ingram.
Regrets? Maybe.
And yeah, it’s a bit complicated.
The Pacers’ 2026 first-round pick was originally sent to the Raptors in the Pascal Siakam trade. It was denoted as top-four protected.
The Raptors then sent it to the Pelicans in the Ingram trade.
The Pelicans then sent it back to the Pacers for the 23rd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Of course, no one was anticipating the Tyrese Haliburton torn Achilles that made the pick so valuable.
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The Pacers sent the pick to the Clippers in the Ivica Zubac trade this February.
Indiana would’ve kept it if it finished top-four, but instead, it was No. 5, and so the Clippers got it.
The Raptors, if they never made the Ingram trade, and if Haliburton still got hurt, maybe would’ve ended up with the fifth overall pick this year.
Maybe that’s just outside what is a clear top-three or top-four, but it’s also a loaded point guard class with multiple choices that could go in that fifth spot.
The Raptors have Ingram instead. Yes, he led them in scoring in 2025-26, but it’s not clear this Toronto core is good enough. A pick like No. 5 in this draft may have been preferred.
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