Written by Matt Moore at CBSSports.com
File this one under “who could have seen this coming [except for everyone]?” The Magic are reportedly experiencing buyer’s remorse after trading Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova (who was later dealt for Jerami Grant) and the pick that became Domantas Sabonis to Oklahoma City for Serge Ibaka. Ibaka is a free agent this summer, and after moving all those assets for him in a win-now effort, the Magic have a dreadful 107.9 defensive rating with Ibaka on the floor.
Orlando is 22nd in defense, 29th in offense and just as far away from the playoffs as it was last season with a younger core. Now the Sporting Newsreports that the Magic have started exploring how to move him in trade:
It has not taken long for buyers’ remorse to kick in. League sources told Sporting News that the Magic have picked up their attempts to move Ibaka ahead of next month’s trade deadline, eager to ensure that they come away with some return for a player who does not figure to be in Orlando long. Ibaka will be a free agent this summer. There is no chance of a Biyombo trade, not after the Magic paid him $70 million for four years this offseason.
But the big concern for Orlando is that they will have mortgaged two young pieces for Ibaka with no benefit, not even a modest bump in the standings. There is virtually no chance he stays in Orlando beyond this season. Ibaka is likely to search out a team more ready to contend in the summer, and the Magic can’t afford to hand him a big contract, not with Gordon still needing to develop as a power forward.
Everyone saw this coming except the Magic. It was pretty obvious the Magic were going all-in on non-star veterans and that was going to backfire. There were other factors that hurt things, like moving Aaron Gordon to small forward when he thrives at power forward, the non-development of Mario Hezonja and the stagnation of their back court.
The tough part is that Ibaka is really valuable in today’s NBA. He’s a shot-blocking four, and those guys just aren’t really out there to be had. A lot of teams have scoring 5s who need those players next to them. Ironically, the Magic were thought to be such a team with Nikola Vucevic, but Vucevic has actually been the better defensive player, amazingly, this season.
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