Potential landing spots for Serge Ibaka
By Ryan Doyle
The Orlando Magic are reportedly looking to move Serge Ibaka. Which teams could use the talented forward?
All signs point to the Orlando Magic making a move or two at the February 23 trade deadline. The postseason is increasingly out of reach, and it may be time to pack it in and develop young players. It is also the time to move any players who are not going to be a part of the team’s future.
Serge Ibaka has not even played a full season with Orlando and he already could be on his way out. Sean Deveney of Sporting News reported earlier this week the Magic could increase their urgency to trade Serge Ibaka.
Ibaka is going to be a free agent come July and is likely going to want to play for a contender. This is probably going to lead the Magic to trade him at the trade deadline and at least get something in return for him rather than letting him walk in free agency for nothing.
Although he is a talented NBA player who could help almost any team in the league, trading Ibaka is not going to be an easy task. With his impending free agency, teams are going to want to make sure Ibaka commits to stay, or make sure their team is close enough to contending for a championship that they would not mind using him as a one-year rental. At the very least those teams might feel in a better position to keep Ibaka in free agency.
Plenty of teams have already expressed interest in Ibaka according to Keith Smith of RealGM.
Teams known to have interest in Ibaka are Toronto, Washington, Boston, Indiana, Houston, Portland, and San Antonio.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 30, 2017
There is clearly a market for Ibaka and plenty of teams could use his skills to push for either a spot in the playoffs, or a deep run at a title.
The question is what direction will the Magic decide to go in trading Ibaka.