Report:Magic trying hard to trade Ibaka

[jpotter33]

Apparently, we've expressed interest in him.

https://twitter.com/ForeverGreen_/status/826196086780002304

Is that the Smitty guy from RealGM, though?

[saltlover]

I remember Ibaka being tough as nails. Doing all the dirty work under the rim---he seems to have lost that passion, settling for jumpers now...Am I wrong--?

Yes and no.  He's been taking more jumpers for the last three seasons.  This year he's taking more 3's than before, but he's also hitting a career high 38.3%, so I'm not sure it's a flaw.  If you believe he's the age he says he is, he started moving outside relatively young.  But if you think he's a couple years older, it looks a lot more like what Horford did.

His blocks are way down this year, but his defensive rebounding is around his career average, and although he takes fewer shots at the rim, he makes a higher percentage.  I'd have no problem trading Zeller, filler, the Memphis pick and our 2nd from Minny this year.  Don't think I'd resign him this summer, however.

That's a lot to give up (esp the 1st rounder) knowing you don't intend to resign him. Much as I hate the front court situation now, I would live with it for another half a season and keep all options open.

A protected 1st three drafts away isn't that expensive for a solid starter on an expiring contract.  That pick is more likely to be 19th than 9th.  And who knows, maybe Ibaka will prove to be such a perfect fit that he's worth re-signing.  (I just think you make the trade independently of trying to sign him, because feeling like you have to sign him because of the trade is how bad decisions are made.)

The team is good enough now where it's worth patching a hole with an expiring like Ibaka.  The players have shown themselves to be a contender.  And even if you let Ibaka walk next summer, you can point to that trade when selling Boston to a free agent -- management will trade picks if needed.  Vets like hearing that.

[D Dub]

Well, if we have to trade most of our bigs to NYK to balance Melo's salary, then following  that up with an Ibaka trade would be ideal. 

Amir, Olynyk, Bradley + the Memphis 1st --for-- Carmelo
then
Zeller, Young + a Boston 1st --for-- Ibaka

That'd be a nice upgrade to the front court, and put us on even footing with Cleveland.  Ibaka is an ideal defender for our system, with his switch-ability, perfect compliment to Horford.  Best part though, we can probably do all of this without shedding BKL picks.  That said, AB is tough to trade, but we can't make a move like this without parting with at least one of our top guards. 

[max215]

Apparently, we've expressed interest in him.

https://twitter.com/ForeverGreen_/status/826196086780002304

Is that the Smitty guy from RealGM, though?

Yes.

[saltlover]

Apparently, we've expressed interest in him.

https://twitter.com/ForeverGreen_/status/826196086780002304

Is that the Smitty guy from RealGM, though?

Yes.  I know he's a front page writer here too, but I find him really, really questionable.  Still waiting for Danny to come back from California with Blake...

That said, he lives in Orlando, so I'll give it a 1% chance he actually has a source with credible information.

[max215]

The Serge of old is a great fit, but that player is gone. His next contract is going to be awful, so if we land him, I sincerely hope it's as a rental for cheap; that seems unlikely.

I wonder how much of that is going from a team  with Westbrook AND Durant to a team where he's the main "star" with no real good fit on the roster, though. Playing between Gordon/Green and Biyombo/Vucevic isn't really ideal for him at all.

I think he'd be significantly better in Boston between Al and Crowder than in Orlando, though I agree I'm not keen on a huge contract for him this summer, similar to how I am with Milsap.

That being said, he is the ideal type of fit that we're looking for at the 4 next to Al, and I'd be willing to see how he looks here, as long as it didn't cost significant assets, which it shouldn't.

He was the ideal fit next to Al. Serge, however, by both the eye test and his statistical profile, is sharply on the decline. He has career lows in BLK% and FTr and his 2nd-lowest TRB%. These are several of the main indicators of waning athleticism, which lends credence to the idea that he's older than his listed age (making his impending contract that much more terrifying). His TRB% is lower than Amir's, BLK% the same as Horford's, and FTr lower than Amir, Horford, and Olynyk. He's a really solid stretch big, but the DPOY-level defense is long gone...and not coming back.

[max215]

Apparently, we've expressed interest in him.

https://twitter.com/ForeverGreen_/status/826196086780002304

Is that the Smitty guy from RealGM, though?

Yes.  I know he's a front page writer here too, but I find him really, really questionable.  Still waiting for Danny to come back from California with Blake...

That said, he lives in Orlando, so I'll give it a 1% chance he actually has a source with credible information.

Same here. Most of his "reports" seem to be things that could be easily deduced from public information or nuggets about preliminary discussions that could never possibly be disproved.

[Tr1boy]

Rozier , young, yabu or zizic, all 2017 2nds could do the trick

[Denis998]

what was the point of trading for him then?

[jpotter33]

The Serge of old is a great fit, but that player is gone. His next contract is going to be awful, so if we land him, I sincerely hope it's as a rental for cheap; that seems unlikely.

I wonder how much of that is going from a team  with Westbrook AND Durant to a team where he's the main "star" with no real good fit on the roster, though. Playing between Gordon/Green and Biyombo/Vucevic isn't really ideal for him at all.

I think he'd be significantly better in Boston between Al and Crowder than in Orlando, though I agree I'm not keen on a huge contract for him this summer, similar to how I am with Milsap.

That being said, he is the ideal type of fit that we're looking for at the 4 next to Al, and I'd be willing to see how he looks here, as long as it didn't cost significant assets, which it shouldn't.

He was the ideal fit next to Al. Serge, however, by both the eye test and his statistical profile, is sharply on the decline. He has career lows in BLK% and FTr and his 2nd-lowest TRB%. These are several of the main indicators of waning athleticism, which lends credence to the idea that he's older than his listed age (making his impending contract that much more terrifying). His TRB% is lower than Amir's, BLK% the same as Horford's, and FTr lower than Amir, Horford, and Olynyk. He's a really solid stretch big, but the DPOY-level defense is long gone...and not coming back.

Oh, well I wasn't really expecting DPOY level defense from him, but he is still capable of playing significantly above average D, especially on the perimeter where we hardly have any serviceable bigs, at least from the little I've watched of him this year.

I like him because he's essentially a better, starter-level version of JJ - the 3 and D stretch 4 that can guard on the perimeter and still stretch the D offensively. That's ideal for Brad's system.

Whatever the case may be, with as many potential upgrades that there are on the market this year, e.g. Noel, Melo, Ibaka, Vucevic, possibly even Millsap, Bogut, etc., I think Danny has no excuse not to upgrade our big rotation, especially due to the fact that the majority of these potential trades should be able to be made without giving up our core assets.

[Monkhouse]

Ibaka is a fantastic player still.

Like jpotter33 said, he's changed into to the quintessential player in todays NBA. 3 and D big men.

I would take a flier on him, to see what we can become with him on our team, and if not just let him go.

I'm not giving up that much of value though. He's a rental. There's no room for them to try to play smoke screens/cat and mouse, when their clearly unsure of Ibaka's thoughts on resigning.

[hodgy03038]

I don't know if he is fantastic but he is an upgrade and he can play D. His contract is good 12+ mill this year and next a UFA. That helps us now and we can let him go if we don't have a fit. If he can be had cheap let's get it done.

[Neurotic Guy]

His decline makes me think the rumors of him being much older is true. He doesn't even look as athletic to me and he's supposedly only 27.

Funny, for some reason my first thought on Ibaka's age was that he was 31-32, and when there was some talk about JJ Reddick the other day, I thought he was 27-28.   How did Reddick get to be 32 so fast?

[kozlodoev]

His decline makes me think the rumors of him being much older is true. He doesn't even look as athletic to me and he's supposedly only 27.

Funny, for some reason my first thought on Ibaka's age was that he was 31-32, and when there was some talk about JJ Reddick the other day, I thought he was 27-28.   How did Reddick get to be 32 so fast?

An unremarkable NBA career would do that to you

[max215]

what was the point of trading for him then?

It was a desperate, misguided, win-now move by a desperate GM.