The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded power forward Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports:
Oklahoma City has traded Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic, league sources told @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2016
Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Serge Ibaka to Magic
In exchange for Ibaka, the Magic will send the Thunder a package of players including guard Victor Oladipo, forward Ersan Ilyasova, and the 11th pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, big man Domantas Sabonis:
Orlando will send Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and rights to Sabonis to the Thunder, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2016
Ibaka’s current contract is set to expire at the end of the upcoming 2016-17 season. With the salary cap booming, and player salaries higher than ever, the Thunder likely decided that they didn’t want to pay Ibaka $20 million per year or more in free agency. Ibaka averaged just 12.6 points per game this past season, the lowest since the 2011-12 season. Additionally, he averaged just 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, his lowest totals in each category since his rookie year. Reports surfaced earlier today that Oklahoma City was shopping Ibaka, a seven-year veteran from the Congo.
Oklahoma City’s acquiring of Oladipo means that it is unlikely that the Thunder will attempt to re-sign guard Dion Waiters, who will be a restricted free agent beginning July 1st. Oladipo will easily fill the void that Waiters might leave, as Oladipo is a dynamic off-the-dribble scorer and a solid defender at shooting guard — better than Waiters in nearly every facet of the game. In Oladipo, the Thunder have finally found a shooting guard who’s good on both ends of the floor, which has been one of the team’s biggest needs ever since James Harden was shipped out of Oklahoma City. Ilyasova will provide the Thunder with a true stretch power forward, as he’s a career 40.9 percent three-point shooter. Sabonis is a talented, NBA-ready prospect who can step in and help out Kevin Durant and Steven Adams in the Thunder’s frontcourt. Ibaka was reduced to merely a spot-up shooter and above average interior defender for long stretches of last season, so Ilyasova and Sabonis will likely be able to adequately replace him for the Thunder.
For Orlando, the Magic will hope to resurrect Ibaka’s career. If all goes right for the Magic, Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic will combine to form a deadly frontcourt, as Vucevic is a talented scorer from all over the floor but needs a shot blocker such as Ibaka to cover up for his defensive deficiencies. Orlando desperately needed to separate the backcourt tandem of point guard Elfrid Payton and Oladipo. Despite each of those two being a good individual player, the pair simply could not co-exist on the floor, as neither player has a consistent three-point shot, which killed the Magic’s floor spacing on offense.
