Serge Ibaka was brought to the Toronto Raptors to shoot threes and rim protect. Here he is stuffing Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas in his Raptors debut.
The Toronto Raptors have one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. They have a great backcourt with point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, but needed help desperately at power forward.
Fortunately for the Raptors, team president Masai Ujiri was able to get them a great power forward in Serge Ibaka from the Orlando Magic. Ibaka is a good outside shooter, but an even better elite rim protector. Here he is stuffing Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas in his Raptors debut.
Welcome to The North, Serge Ibaka! @ESPNNBA#NBARapidReplay pic.twitter.com/idy4fwkeST
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2017
Toronto had cooled off a bit after a hot start to begin the year. The Raptors are one of a few teams that could play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Frankly, Toronto’s biggest competition to be Cleveland’s most formidable challenger is division rival Boston.
The Celtics have been getting a ton of hype for their team, as they are in second place in the Eastern Conference. However, it was the Raptors and not the Celtics that made moves at the trade deadline.
Unlike Boston, Toronto has won playoff series with their current corps. The Raptors may be on the cusp of taking back control of the Atlantic Division with the help of Ibaka and recently acquired wing P.J. Tucker from the Phoenix Suns.
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The best start for the Raptors in the second half is to beat a division rival at home. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer, as he was in the last year of his contract. Ujiri may look to bring him and Lowry back this summer to form a big three with DeRozan for the foreseeable future.