Report: Orlando Magic trade Serge Ibaka to Toronto Raptors

The Orlando Magic have reportedly traded Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a first round pick. As the trading begins.

The Orlando Magic will trade Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a first round pick, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.

This was largely the deal everyone expected the Magic to make. The Raptors were hoping to acquire Ibaka at the draft before the Magic swooped in at the last second with a better offer. The Raptors clearly needed some rim protection and some help at power forward to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Orlando hoped acquiring Ibaka would be a key piece to their return to the Playoffs for the first time in five years. The Magic realized their rebuild hit something of a rut and planned big changes. It started with bringing in the rim-protecting power forward onto the roster on Draft night.

They gave up a lot to get him, trading away Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis in the deal. It was a big risk, but one the Magic clearly thought necessary to move their team forward.

Ibaka is having a career offensive year — 15.1 points per game is a career high. And Ibaka was the Magic’s best player this season.

His defense, though, never took off. It remained as good as it had the least few years, but Ibaka did not return to being an all-defensive team player. And he did not reshape the Magic’s defense either.

Despite initial improvements, Orlando’s defense remains among the bottom 10 defenses in the league. And the Magic’s record sank. Sinking all the way to the fourth best Lottery odds in the league.

The Magic’s Playoff dreams quickly dissipated. And it does not seem the Magic would have a good chance of retaining Ibaka considering their poor Playoff positioning.

Orlando clearly could target Toronto as a potential trade partner considering its interest before the season.

The deal quickly centered around young forward Terrence Ross.

Ross is averaging 10.4 points per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. The 26-year-old is a decent shooter and a good athlete. Largely coming off the bench for the Raptors, there is certainly some curiosity as to whether he can step into a larger role.

Orlando Magic

Orlando needed to restock their cupboard with some younger players with the potential to keep growing without clogging their books. Ross still has two years on his contract at $10.5 million per year.

Orlando also will acquire a first round pick, likely late in the first round, as part of the deal. That will help the Magic restock their roster with young players as they figure out the next stage of their development.

The Ibaka trade was an absolute necessity. Orlando with their poor record was not likely to re-sign Ibaka this summer even with the Bird Rights advantage. And considering all Orlando gave up to acquire him, the team needed to recoup some value.

No, Terrence Ross is not Victor Oladipo. But considering how desperate Toronto was for some power forward help, this was about as good as Orlando could do. They recouped some value for an asset they were likely to lose in free agency. They got a solid young player and a pick instead of nothing.

Next: Rob Hennigan, Orlando Magic must provide hope for future

Now the Magic can focus more squarely on the future and move on to the next phase for themselves.