What the Serge Ibaka Trade Means for the Magic and Raptors

Ibaka – who travelled most of Tuesday, met with Raptors officials and doctors late Wednesday and watched the pre-game walkthrough – will make his debut with Toronto a week from Friday, when the team comes off the NBA’s all-star break.

With news hitting Tuesday morning that the Raptors have sent Terrance Ross and a 2017 first round pick to the Orlando Magic for Ibaka, it all came to light. Toronto finds itself immersed in a 4-10 skid that’s seen them fall from second in the Eastern Conference to fifth. While Ross has played well this season, Ibaka is a potential game-changing big man for the Raptors, who have been beaten badly on the glass by the Cavaliers or have proven too slow to match the Cavs when they spread the floor.

We’ll dive deep on some stats next week to figure out how helpful Ibaka will be (he’ll be great), but for now let’s take a quick look at just the trade mechanics and the impact on this summer.

The 27-year-old averaged 15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 56 games with Orlando. Hopefully, the team learned a valuable lesson and is forced to take a step backward, prop Gordon up, use both draft picks – Orlando now has a 37.8 percent chance of landing a top-three pick – aggressively shop Nikola Vucevic this offseason and build something worthwhile. “They have a legitimate chance to get to the (NBA) Finals through the East with that team”, Rick Carlisle told reporters after the Celtics’ 111-98 win over his Mavericks on Monday night.

In the short-term, acquiring Ibaka is a slam dunk for Toronto.

Selected 24th overall by Seattle in the 2008 draft, Ibaka played seven seasons alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City before being acquired by the Magic last summer. Ross averaged 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds, but the high flier has never been able to provide Toronto with the consistency they were looking for from him.

Ibaka and Powell are the kind of players that are coveted in today’s National Basketball Association. Serge Ibaka is on his way to try to make that happen.

The Raptors have floundered at the power forward position this year, primarily because of injuries to first Jared Sullinger and more recently to Patrick Patterson.

The Congo-born Ibaka arrived in the most intriguing deal the Raptors had made in years.

As for the Orlando Magic, they didn’t have much choice but to deal Ibaka in another lost season.

Ibaka, a three-time All-Defensive selection, should give the Raptors an immediate boost in their own end.

In addition to Ross, the Magic also pick up a first-round pick in this year’s draft that is expected to fall in the 20’s.