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Serge Ibaka makes first return to the Amway Center, still feel ties to Orlando

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 6: Serge Ibaka #7 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball against the Houston Rockets on January 6, 2017 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 6: Serge Ibaka #7 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball against the Houston Rockets on January 6, 2017 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Serge Ibaka will make his first trip back to Orlando when the Toronto Raptors take on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. He still feels ties to the area.

Serge Ibaka still considers Orlando home. His daughter attends school in the area after his nine months in the City Beautiful. He still has a desire to make a home here.

It just was never his basketball home. Things never worked about between him and the Orlando Magic. A combination of perhaps his own limits as a player — he never was able to take his game to new heights and lead other players to a higher level — and a poorly constructed roster sabotaged whatever the Magic were trying to accomplish last year.

It has not helped the principle player the Magic traded to acquire Serge Ibaka, Victor Oladipo, has turned himself into an All-Star. The All-Star he never was in Orlando that led the team to conclude they had to trade him or face a large price tag in free agency.

Ibaka has kept at his work, helping the Toronto Raptors emerge as the best team in the Eastern Conference. Fitting snugly in with All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, he has found a comfortable spot within the Raptors’ ecosystem for his individual and team success.

But part of him is still in Orlando. A big part of him. Even if his playing days there did not work out.

"“It’s life, man,” Ibaka told Dough Smith of the Toronto Star on Tuesday. “Everything in life you try to do is not going to go the way you want. That doesn’t mean we lost. It doesn’t mean we have to give up, you know?“The thing didn’t work out the way we were thinking, but thank God we still live, we still have something to do, still enjoying this game. Just move on.”"

It has been more than a year since the Magic traded Ibaka to the Raptors, ending a failed experiment to bring the veteran in and take the team to the Playoffs. Orlando dealt him a week before last year’s trade deadline, acquiring Terrence Ross and a first-round pick (subsequently traded on draft night) to recoup some value.

Ibaka said Wednesday at the team’s shootaround he still has ties to the Orlando area. His daughter and his family have made a home in Orlando. She still attends school in the area. It is a place he wants to live and return to.

Echoing the quote he gave to the Toronto Star, Ibaka said you never know where life will take you and where you will put your roots down.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

Those roots off the court have certainly taken hold in Orlando. It just never worked out on the court.

There seems still to be some legitimate anger about the trade and Ibaka’s disappointing run with the team among fans. He did not deliver the team to the Playoffs as promised. Orlando struggled out of the gates last year despite Ibaka’s career season.

He averaged 15.1 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game in 56 games with the Magic last year. The 15.1 points per game would have tied his career high.

"“I think our group as a whole had a bad year,” coach Frank Vogel said at the Magic’s shootaround Wednesday. “Sometimes parts just don’t fit, whether it is personalities or on-the-court chemistry. A lot of those factors come into play in different situations throughout the league. Sometimes parts don’t fit the right way. I’m glad to see him have success up in Toronto.”"

The team floundered, eventually finishing with 29 wins. Orlando went just 21-37 with Ibaka on the team. It was clear the season was going nowhere, the general manager Rob Hennigan was on his way out and the team needed to retool completely.

The retooling for the Magic has continued. Orlando has one of the worst records in the league at 18-42 and seems on a course for another rebuild for several years.

Ibaka, meanwhile, has found success again. He is averaging just 13.1 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. He is blocking 1.4 shots per game, about where he was last year. The statistical numbers are all down, but the Raptors are thriving.

At 42-17, Toronto has the best record in the Eastern Conference.

When Toronto acquired Ibaka from Orlando and re-signed him to a three-year deal, this was the kind of impact the team hoped to see. The Raptors hope this is their year to break through in the Playoffs.

As Ibaka returns to the Amway Center for the first time in a Toronto jersey, it is unclear whether Orlando fans will even care about it. The trade happened more than a year ago and Ibaka’s stay was so short, it hardly made an impact. Orlando already cleaned house of those responsible it seemed for the failures of his time with the team.

Next: Orlando Magic's fast starts consistently fading away

And there is probably still work to do to completely clean that up.