Orlando Magic Trade Recaps: Grading the Serge Ibaka-Terrence Ross deal

The reviews are in for the Orlando Magic’s deal sending out Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a first round pick.

The storm has settled some after the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors made the news of the day and one of the big trades likely for the entire trade deadline swapping Serge Ibaka and Terrence Ross (with a first round pick in for good measure).

It was a deal that seemed inevitable for a long while.

The Magic were fading in the Playoff race and needed to move Ibaka or risk losing him in free agency. Recouping a young role player and a late first round pick was about all they could expect.

The deal, though, comes in a bigger context for the Magic. Orlando gave up Victor Oladipo, the rights to Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova to get Ibaka. The hope was Ibaka’s defense would fill a need and improve the team’s defense to the point where they formed an identity on that end.

It seemingly worked for a short while. The Magic had a top-10 defense for the first quarter of the season. Then the bottom fell out. The team underperformed.

For the Magic, it was clear that as the trade deadline approached, they would have to cut bait and recoup some value for Ibaka.

In isolation, acquiring a promising young player who needed to find more minutes along with a late first round pick was about all the team could do. It was a solid return for a team that needs to replenish its asset war chest.

Of course, in the bigger picture, the Magic only acquiring Ross and a pick likely to land in the 20s after giving up a budding young player in Oladipo and a lottery pick in Sabonis is a clear downgrade. Not to mention the lost season that was Ibaka’s eight months with the team.

This is a deal that was necessary to set the Magic on the path that will shape their next few seasons in some way. It was also a deal that admitted failure.

Both of these views are in consideration when it comes to the Magic’s evaluation of this deal.

It was a necessary deal to recoup value and begin carving a path forward. It was also a symbol of the team’s failed rebuild and the beginning of the team moving forward to a new era.

As everyone sinks their teeth into this trade, the general consensus seems to be the Magic did about as well as they could considering the circumstances.

Here is a sampling of trade grades from around the Web.

Kevin Pelton, ESPN.com

Grade: B

"I’m dubious Ibaka’s value around the league was all that high, as ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggested on Twitter. After all, for many teams he’d be nothing but a rental, and even if Toronto (or another possible suitor) re-signs him, it will be at market value rather than his current value $12.35 million salary.My read is a first-round pick and matching salary was about what the Magic should have expected from an Ibaka trade. Because Orlando is getting the worse of the two picks the Raptors owned, there’s little upside to this first-rounder, so much of the analysis of this trade comes down to whether Ross is more valuable than an expiring contract."

Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated

Grade: B

"As noted last summer, the Magic made their big mistake in trading for Ibaka in the first place. This trade doesn’t fully undo the damage of the move that sent Victor Oladipo and 2016 lottery pick Domantas Sabonis to the Thunder, but it does count as a reasonable salvage effort. Unfortunately, GMs only get a limited number losing exchanges like this, and Orlando’s Rob Hennigan has more than exhausted his fair share.In the macro sense, Hennigan gets an “F” for backing himself into a corner and being forced to part with Ibaka to avoid an embarrassing free-agency departure come July. Strictly on the terms of this deal and its implications, though, he did all right."

Gergald Bourguet, Hoops Habit

Grade: C-

"Trading for Ibaka was supposed to give Orlando a stretch-4 to spread the floor, make life easier on a non-shooter like Elfrid Payton and help get the Magic back to the playoffs in a season where a record four games below .500 is currently good enough for a playoff spot.Orlando had to deal him to mitigate their inevitable loss in free agency this summer, and the return was about as good as it was going to get when everyone in the league knew Hennigan’s desperate situation."

It does indeed seem like opinions of this deal and the value the Magic got in return for Ibaka is dependent upon which lens you look at it as an analyst.

In the short-term, the Magic did not get the best player and recouped value on a player who was likely to leave. The Magic cut their losses and moved on as their season is quickly becoming a lost cause (if it is not one already).

But in the long-term, this was the culmination of five years of a failed rebuild. The Magic pushed in for the Playoffs to take the franchise to the next level and failed miserably. They gave up valuable assets on a bet that turned out bad.

Next: Meet Terrence Ross from Raptors Rapture

Missing out on best like that have consequences. Those consequences will play out in the offseason.