ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

It’s very possible Rajakovic will turn out to be correct on this. Ingram, when he’s healthy, is an enticing talent — the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft who has averaged 23 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists over the past six seasons while shooting a credible 37 per cent from three-point range. If you can get over the fact he has missed 44 per cent of available games over the past four seasons combined due to a variety of injuries, you can make a case the Raptors are making a bold bet on a sleeping giant.

Still, it’s difficult to make a case they should be lauded for getting a great deal on a distressed asset. Just ask Rich Paul, Ingram’s agent and the CEO of Klutch Sports Group, who was recently seen patting himself on the back for securing the bag for his client against considerable odds.

“I felt like, had (Ingram) got to the open market (of impending free agency), there was not much opportunity there,� . “So he’s making $40 million a year for the next three years. That probably wouldn’t have been there for him if we get to … free agency.�

Whoof. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the negotiating skills of Masai Ujiri, the former team president who was fired June 27. But that kind of critique hasn’t exactly been a one-off in Raptorland this off-season. Earlier this week ESPN analyst and former NBA executive Bobby Marks teed off on the Raptors for a deal they made a couple of summers ago — specifically the one that secured the services of point guard Immanuel Quickley for an annual average of $32.5 million through 2028-29. Marks blamed the unjustified heft of that deal for stymying ongoing contract talks for the likes of Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga and Chicago’s Josh Giddey.

“That Immanuel Quickley contract … has totally screwed up restricted free agency,â€� . “Because that’s where agents are looking at the benchmark. Certainly Josh Giddey’s like, ‘I want that (Quickley) contract there.’ That number has screwed up a lot of things. And that is why you can’t use comps … It’s a rich contract. I don’t think ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ got enough heat, I guess, for that number because Immanuel Quickley is not a $32-, $33-million guy … That contract has screwed up restricted free agency a bit because players are like, ‘I want that number.’ And teams are like, ‘Nope.’ â€�

In a week that saw Chris Boucher’s signing in Boston sever ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s last remaining link to its 2019 championship roster, a case can be made the Raptors are a franchise floating in undesirable waters — a non-contender accused of paying A-level prices for B-level talent.

As ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ centre Jakob Poeltl said last month after he signed a generous four-year contract extension worth $104 million: “Negotiations went really easy.â€�

You don’t say? Maybe paying top dollar for talent is part of the stark reality of doing business as the only NBA team residing outside the United States. But there’s no denying this: ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is in line to own a top-10 payroll coming off a bottom-seven season. And there’s a reason why bookmakers have set the Raptors’ over-under win total at 37.5. Expectations aren’t as high as salaries. With longest-serving Raptor Scottie Barnes about to step into the first year of a five-year max extension worth $224 million and RJ Barrett in line to earn $27.7 million this season, the top handful of Raptors are due an awful lot of money in the coming few seasons. As for whether they’ll ever be good enough justify that collective bill by supplying a needle-moving quantity of victories — that’s nothing more than a bet on an unproven group. If anything has been under-reported, to use Rajakovic’s word, maybe it’s the outsized nature of some of the gambles.