Top Raptors Stories of 2025: In trading for Ingram, the Raptors are walking on the edge of a knife
Welcome to Raptors Republic’s new New Year tradition. As decided by you, the readers, it’s time to dive into the 10 most-read editorials of the year at Raptors Republic. You can find the full top-10 list of released articles for 2025 (as each one is released) here.
I limited the list to editorials because news items and other pieces can often have more reads than columns. But these pieces — and I’m including post-game pieces — are the ones that take the most work, and in my eyes have the most value. So they’re the ones included in this list.
The year of 2025 has been one defined maybe most by wild swings of emotion for the Toronto Raptors. Toronto traded for Brandon Ingram, which allowed it to continue to tank to end the year. Then the team didn’t rise in the draft and added Collin Murray-Boyles. The season started, and the team looked great! (For one game.) Then terrible, then great, now terrible again. A real roller coaster.
Through it all, there has been comprehensive coverage here at Raptors Republic. Some of the top stories include reactions to that trade for Ingram, that Murray-Boyles pick, the collapse of the team’s fortunes over the previous few weeks. We’ve been here, with you, watching it all unfold. If 2026 is anything similar, we could lose five years of our lives.
Without further ado, the No. 7 most-read story at Raptors Republic of 2025: “In trading for Ingram, the Raptors are walking on the edge of a knife” by me
He’s a career 20-point-per-game scorer who’s been between 21 and 25 per game since 2019-20. The picture of consistency. He has also been in the 100th percentile for long mid-range frequency this season and last — and he connects on such shots on solid rates (between 43- and 47-percent accuracy for each of the last several seasons), but not quite great enough for a team to build an efficient offence around those scoring skills. In fact, his career effective field goal percentage is 51.3 percent. He is, of course, a very good passer with great size who finishes incredibly at the rim, despite not getting there a whole lot.
If all of that sounds familiar, it’s because it also describes Barnes. He is in the 92nd percentile for long mid-range frequency this season. He has been building his offence out of the post, out of midrange jumpers. He has a low effective field goal percentage (career average of 50.9). He scores 20 points a game. He is, of course, a terrific passer with great size who finishes incredibly at the rim, despite not getting there a whole lot. If Siakam and Barnes didn’t fit well together, which Ujiri seemed to insinuate at times, then it doesn’t necessarily mean Ingram and Barnes will be any cleaner a fit.
Ingram is a solid 3-point shooter, and he ramped up his volume this season before an ankle injury has kept him out for the last several weeks. (He remains without a timeline to return — more on that in a moment.) Perhaps that can blend things in a smoother fashion.
You can read the rest of the piece here. And tune in tomorrow for number six!
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