Because Brandon Ingram was injured during the Toronto Raptors’ 2026 playoff run, he underwent surgery on his heel to get ready for the following season. Law Murray, a credible insider around the league, followed up with an update recently, stating, “Expectation has been that BI will be ready for camp.” Of course, when media day rolled around, we’d learn more about how he’s doing.
Surgery was in May, expectation has been that BI will be ready for camp
— Law Murray 🪛 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 22, 2026
And that’s all I’ll say about that for now, he can speak on it soon enough https://t.co/D7CXLF9qDP
Well, that day finally arrived, and it turns out Ingram had a partially torn Achilles, which he also had surgery on. This is extremely unfortunate and shocking news, to say the least. But at the end of the day, it goes to show how desperate the Clippers were to trade Kawhi Leonard, as they certainly knew about what was going on with the two-time All-Star before they acquired him.
For what it’s worth, Ingram added that he is doing light on-court work and is week-to-week.
The Clippers were as eager as ever to trade Kawhi in the offseason
Sure, the draft compensation the LA Clippers received from the Toronto Raptors in the blockbuster trade, along with Gradey Dick, was incredibly important. But the face of the Clippers’ return was Brandon Ingram. He is the guy who’ll help keep the team in playoff contention for the foreseeable future.
That said, most teams, when hit with the news that the most valuable player they would be receiving in a trade had surgery on a partially torn Achilles, would immediately back off or request someone else be added.
That’s the way to go, yet instead, the Clippers were still content to bring Ingram to LA as long as it meant Kawhi Leonard would be officially gone.
That speaks volumes about their desperation, and ultimately raises follow-up questions.
Were the Clippers simply eager to start a new era starring the fifth overall pick? Or did the organization know they were guilty of cap circumvention, and wanted to get a deal done before the outcome of the investigation would be released, not thinking the league would put the trade on hold?
While both could be true, the fact of the matter is that we’ll never know.
Moving forward, the hope is that Ingram makes a full recovery and returns to the court sooner rather than later. The Clippers will need his assistance, as relying on just Darius Garland and a young surrounding environment won’t be enough to make some noise in the stacked Western Conference.
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