TORONTO – The trade that sent Brandon Ingram to the Raptors is barely a week old, but the long and lanky forward has already made franchise history.

How, you ask? In the team’s 30-year existence, Ingram will go down as the first all-star – or, in this case, former all-star – player to chart a course to Toronto in the prime of his career. Think about it. It had never happened before.

Vince Carter, Chris Bosh and DeMar DeRozan were homegrown stars, drafted and developed by the club. Tracy McGrady was also a Raptors draft pick and left before hitting his prime. Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard were acquired via trade but Canada’s lone NBA team was far from their preferred destination at the time. Hakeem Olajuwon signed here when the eventual Hall of Fame centre was long past his prime.

Ingram is the first star to choose Toronto at or close to the height of his powers. Technically, the 27-year-old came over in the deal that sent Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, Indiana’s 2026 first-round pick and a 2031 second-rounder to New Orleans at last week’s trade deadline, but given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent, he had some sway in where he ended up. No team was going to give up real assets for him without assurance that he would be willing to stick around long term.

According to multiple reports and confirmed by TSN, Ingram had targeted Toronto or Atlanta as his ideal landing spots. Their familiarity with his representatives – Canadian agent Mike George and Rich Paul of Klutch Sports – allowed the Raptors to get a sense of his desire to play for the team and to have a rough framework of what it would cost to keep him.

Sure enough, about a week after pulling off the surprising and somewhat polarizing move to land Ingram, the Raptors announced that they had signed him to a contract extension, worth a reported $120 million over three seasons (with a player option on the third year).

"It’s an exciting day for the franchise,” general manager Bobby Webster said at Ingram’s introductory press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against Cleveland. “Brandon wanted to be here. We’ve been big fans of his for many years, dating back to high school and college days. We’re very fortunate to be able to bring him on board. It’s an important step as we rebuild this roster, continue to add talent to the core here.”

An average annual salary of $40 million for a player with a lengthy injury history is by no means a bargain, but with his immense talent, the deal feels like a fair – and not unexpected – compromise. Historically, the Raptors have prioritized term over salary in contract negotiations and that was the case again here. Three years is the most that they could have offered in an extension, but less than the five-year deal he would have been eligible for in free agency. The player option is also something the team has been amenable to before. In this case, it gives Ingram the opportunity to hit the open market at age 29 and the incentive to stay healthy and reestablish his value in Toronto.

Surely, he and his camp would have been looking for........

© TSN