NBA Rumors: Package for Serge Ibaka to Raptors deal revealed
By David Rouben
The Orlando Magic saved the Toronto Raptors from making a big mistake on a potential Serge Ibaka trade.
The Oklahoma City Thunder made off like bandits when they traded Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic. Not only did they get a current and future replacement for Ibaka in Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova, they added Victor Oladipo, one of the most underrated players in the NBA, and a big upgrade at the two spot for OKC.
But before that trade happened, the Toronto Raptors were among the teams interested in Serge Ibaka. At the time, we only knew that the Thunder wanted Toronto’s ninth overall pick, which they used to draft Jakob Poeltl, but Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reveals they asked for a lot more than that.
Had the Raptors pulled the trigger on an Ibaka deal, they would’ve had to part ways with the ninth overall pick, Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson, and Norman Powell. That would’ve potentially been an even worse trade than the one the Magic pulled off, and Masai Ujiri was right to balk at that trade offer.
Ibaka is a great power forward, and is certainly an upgrade over Toronto’s current options Luis Scola and Patrick Patterson. But they only would’ve gotten him for one year before he hit free agency. In Norman Powell and Cory Joseph, they would’ve given up two key bench players who played a significant part in Toronto’s deep playoff run last season. Not to mention those are two players they got for relatively cheap.
Three players is too much for someone who’s likely going to be around for just one year, but add in a top 10 pick, and that’s about as one-sided a trade as you’re ever going to see. The only positive that would’ve come out of this deal for the Raptors is that they would own Ibaka’s Bird rights, allowing them to go over the cap to re-sign him. But there’s no guarantee he would’ve worked out, and even if he did, they would’ve likely overpaid to keep him.
While the Magic are a team that’s looking to make the playoffs, the Raptors are a team that’s in win-now mode, and after they were two wins away from the NBA Finals, this would’ve set them back very far.
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