OverDrive
Windhorst on Ingram's disastrous postseason, the contract issues and Harden's legacy
30 Apr 2026
Chapter 1: How will Brandon Ingram's absence affect the Raptors' playoff chances?
serious from ESPN the Raptors still alive big game tomorrow night here's uh ESPN NBA reporter and analyst Brian Windhorst how you doing Brian good afternoon guys um so Brandon Ingram questionable tomorrow night if he doesn't play if he's not available tonight or tomorrow or game seven how how difficult is this going to be for the Raptors in your opinion to not only survive game six but possibly win this series
Well, it depends. I mean, the Brandon Ingram who's the all-star or the Brandon Ingram who's played the first four and a half games. You know, frankly, a good place to start would be to recapture the Scotty Barnes from game three and four in the first half of last night. I mean, it's not my leg, but it looked to me like he banged knees and then really wasn't as effective later on.
Also, when Ingram's not on the court, the Cavs' whole ā the defensive system isn't evolved around him and they can pay more attention to Barnes. So like really by the end of last night's game, the rap, you know, I don't know, maybe it was a super effective defense, but to me, the Raptors were down, you know, two and a quarter of their star players.
And, you know, you were, I mean, with all due respect, you know, I respect what Jamison battle has done and Jamal shed, but they're out there trying to win a road game five with two guys who were, who entered the NBA as two way guys. I mean, it wasn't quite smoke and mirrors, but those were laying on the table.
So, I mean, I say this with admiration of what the Raptors are doing and what Darko is getting them to do. With where yesterday's game ended, the talent level between the two teams was not equivalent at all. When the Raptors are at full power, yeah, I mean, they're right there, but... I mean, it would have been an absolutely incredible jaw-dropping win had they held on to that.
Frankly, that the Cavs were still fighting to win the game in the last minute is not a great sign for the Cavs medium term here.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Brandon Ingram's inconsistent playoff performance?
And my hat's off to the Raptors for staying in this because their only way they're really, really able to score with the Cavs is by to generate turnovers and go in the half court or go in transition. Half-court, they're having trouble because they just don't have enough offensive players.
It would definitely help if Brandon Ingram was out there and if Brandon Ingram was able to hit some shots because, yes, they've denied him the ball, but no, he is not playing to the level that he should be playing under the circumstance.
And how does this... kind of Jekyll and Hyde behavior from Ingram, particularly in the playoffs, match his reputation prior to getting here? How do you explain? Because he had an unbelievable start, an unbelievable first impression of the city of Toronto. He was great to start the year, and he played a ton. But like you said, it's obvious you watch him play. He hasn't been aggressive.
Game one was really strange. His post-game comments were strange. How do you explain a guy who's not a kid, who's a veteran, who understands how important he is, playing the way he's been playing throughout this series?
Well, that is not the Brandon Ingram that I have known in the playoffs before.
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Chapter 3: How do the Raptors' contract decisions impact their future?
Now, I'm just going to be honest with you. I would not have given him $120 million when nobody else was bidding. I thought the Raptors stuck their neck out. on that contract. But, and I really didn't like trading for him and pretending at a, the worst sprained ankle in the history of, uh, you know, us Canadian relations, but that's all behind. That's all water over the bridge. Um,
He is a guy who is very hard to deal with in playoff settings. I covered the series that he played with the Pelicans a couple years ago against the Suns, and he's just an absolute load to deal with typically in a half-court set because he's 6'10". He's essentially Kevin Durant Jr., where you can't deal with him because his shot release is so high and his size is so terrific.
He's a player that you would typically want in a playoff setting because he's a half-court playoff specialist because there's so many things you can do and because he can initiate offense. You would even figure that with quickly out that he would become even more valuable. So, you know, in any long playoff series, there's 10 different dramas unfolding.
But there's no doubt he is underachieved, and that has been disappointing, especially because the Raptors invested so much into him. They basically said, this is going to be Scottie Barnes' running mate forever.
Chapter 4: What is James Harden's legacy in the context of his playoff performance?
Um, and you know, the thing about the rappers, they've done a really nice job in talent acquisition. Like that trade, that value of that trade was pretty good. You know, the value of, you know, where they got Jamal shed, how they got quickly. I, I liked all of these deals, but the, but they've paid these guys through the freaking no. And you know, like I am very excited about Scotty Barnes.
He is really developing into a franchise cornerstone. Um, This series, while on one hand I say, boy, Darko is really getting them to play hard. I really am impressed with how they've battled back over and over and over. This is a very expensive team to be not able to perform a little bit better in what we've seen so far.
Well, we haven't even mentioned Jacoperto. Go ahead, O.
So, Brian, just to say that. Well, that one is a non-starter. That is a, with all due respect, because the Raptors, these guys in the Raptors front office have built a championship team.
Chapter 5: How do the Raptors compare to other Eastern Conference teams?
They have paid guys where no one is bidding. No one was bidding that much on Yaka Pirtle. No one was bidding that much on Brandon Ingram. I'm not saying I don't want them in my organization. I don't want to sign them. I just don't want to pay them those prices. Same thing with Quickly. Again, maybe I don't have all the information.
Maybe there was some offer out there for quickly that I'm not aware of. But literally, the last three contracts, big contracts that the Raptors have signed, the whole league has taken a gasp and said, oh, my God. Now, the acquisitions of them were beautiful, but the contracts have been heavy.
Ryan, how far away would you say, like, Scotty is the main piece. You just gave him props with his development. How many pieces would you say they would be away from being, like, a real deal contender, someone like a team the whole league would be talking about in the next couple years?
I mean, you don't have to ask me that.
Chapter 6: What challenges do the Raptors face in building a contender?
I mean, they've... They've done a very nice job to pick themselves up from where they were a couple years ago when they had to move on from Kyle and they moved on from Siakam. They've done a nice job rebuilding the core.
Their challenge is they are in, you know, look around the East, look at the teams in the East, look at what Boston has, look at what Cleveland has, look at what Detroit has, look at the teams in the West. and say, how does this particular group rise up? They've done a really nice job getting from 10th to 5th.
Getting higher than 5th is going to be hard, and the real challenge is going to be the players that they ā where we are in the NBA today, and I understand fans don't always totally fully get this conversation because it's changed. player value from literally just two, three years ago is different now. A team cannot afford to have one or two bad contracts on its books. It just can't.
Because before, it just cost your owner a bunch of money. And if your owner could spend, and the Raptors were a deeper pocketed franchise, if your owner could spend, you could buy your way out of a problem. You could survive a bad contract. Now, when you have a bad contract or two, it kneecaps you, um, and what's your ability to team build.
Chapter 7: How are the Raptors managing their expensive roster?
And, like, by the way, I'm not sitting over here saying, boy, the Raptors have some challenges getting to the next level and ignoring everybody else. The Cavs are in the same boat. The Cavs are the most expensive roster in the NBA. Dudes, that's the most expensive roster in the history of the Cavs franchise. Crazy. Okay?
And they're in fourth place and in a dogfight with a team that doesn't have their point guard, that's desperate to play super fast and doesn't have their fast point guard. So I would say just in general, you know, there are some teams in the East that are going to be challenged on how they get to the next level with the current rules because, you
Some of these ā it's not much of an evaluation of, hey, do you like Jaco Perlo as a player? Oh, yeah. I mean, there's a demand for a bunch of center. Like, there's a whole bunch of teams that need centers. Absolutely. There's a bunch of teams that have interest. Then you bring up Jaco Perlo's contract, you're going to get the phone hung up on you.
Chapter 8: What are the stakes for the Raptors in the upcoming playoff games?
It's not about him as a player. It's about the contract. Nobody can take an overweight contract in the apron era. That's just reality. And the Raptors just have a couple of them. So ā They've done a really nice job, and I'm not ruling them out in this series. And I love where Barnes is. I love where he's at.
But the next step will be a challenge, and they're having a challenge in the next step in this series.
Right. Well, and you mentioned the Cavs. I mean, like you said, the highest payroll in the league, and they're committed for years to come. We'll see what happens with that. But obviously that puts a ton of pressure on them. And on top of it is the James Harden. legacy. I've always had a soft spot for him because he plays. He can't wait to go.
I want to see him have success, not against the Raptors, but he had a great first two games. He was pretty good last night, not great on the road. Where do you stand on Harden's ability to close here and how significant is the next six weeks for him and his overall legacy in Cleveland?
Well, I mean, I can't say that they've already agreed to a contract because I guess they could look me in the eye and say that's not true. But James Harden had a no-trade clause built into his contract this year, and he agreed to be traded to Cleveland in midseason. Why do you think he would do that?
He would do that because he had an idea that his contract was going to be, he was going to have a thing worked out. So what happened in Cleveland is they were building their team on Evan Mobley's timeline. And the Donovan Mitchell trade was to go along with Evan Mobley. Evan Mobley made All-NBA last year, was Defensive Player of the Year.
And they have had to accept the reality that they can't build on Mobley's timeline anymore. They have to build on Donovan Mitchell's timeline. So that decision was a huge, gigantic decision. And so that's why you end up trading and committing to a future contract with a 37-year-old instead of keeping the 26-year-old Darius Garland. OK, so all of those things are going on there.
But, you know, here's the thing that I say about James. You know, he's played like in 17 different playoffs. So he's got like I was able to generate statistics on everything that he is. All these games where he's been in game five in a 2-2 series. That's actually happened 13 times in his career. There's a whole data set on just how James Harden performs in Game 5 when it's 2-2.
By the way, it wasn't very good. That was a better-than-average performance yesterday, even though he turned the ball over a lot. So now we go to the data set. What's James Harden's profile in 3-2 series where his team is leading? I was at one two years ago. They were up 3-2 against the ā against the Celtics when he was in Philadelphia. It didn't go well.
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