A Magic Serge and a New York Rose, It’s Trade Time in the NBA
No sooner has one NBA season finished than the next one begins. While LeBron James was finally getting round to working through all those twitter mentions and J.R. Smith was probably still out looking for his shirt, the rest of the league was busy at the 2016 NBA Draft.
It went about as expected, Ben Simmons went first to the 76ers, Brandon Ingram ended up with the Lakers and the Celtics spent more time on the phone than a 70s Mafioso bookie. A few cheeky reach picks, plenty of European talent and the odd steal in there for fun… a typical draft from a class that, on first impression, doesn’t look like the strongest in recent times, to put it gently. But the drama still came and it came in the form of a couple of hyper-trades: Serge Ibaka being dealt to the Magic and Derrick Rose, a day earlier, being flipped to the Knicks. Bloody hell, mate.
Serge Ibaka first because that one was far less telegraphed. There had been whispers of a trade block earlier on the day of the draft but when news of the trade broke it was pretty shocking.
That the Thunder would even consider trading a dude who was their no-doubt third best player probably as recently as the start of last season is crazy but the fact is Serge Ibaka’s situation has changed significantly. He wasn’t happy with that either, not to the point where he’d have asked to be traded but there was definitely a feeling that he’d leave in free agency come 2017. Previously he’d been their defensive anchor and one of the league’s best rim protectors, constantly up near the top of the charts in blocks. But more recently the Thunder team has evolved past that. Billy Donovan, in his first year as coach, tried to move him further from the hoop, Ibaka often finding himself as a spot-up three point shooter as he was placed further and further from the rim. Not that he’s too shabby at that (Ibaka shot only 32.6% last season from 3pt, though was a 37.6% deep shooter in 3.2 3PA/G the season prior) but it ain’t his strength.
Problem is, that defensive anchor status has been thoroughly threatened – and now seized – by the rise of Steven Adams, no two ways about that. As a raw rookie, Adams tended to find himself playing with Ibaka (or Nick Collison) on the court, whose ability to cover inside made up for any poor reads by the kiwi. By the time Kendrick Perkins departed and Enes Kanter came in, that dynamic had flipped and Adams was considered a solid enough NBA defender to cover for his own mistakes but Ibaka still found himself as a defensive handcuff, this time to the big Turkish lad who had for a while been something of a laughing stock for his defence – albeit also a truly dominant offensive player with skills beyond most of his positional rivals.
Kanter has improved a lot off the ball since then, while Adams was one of the breakout players of the playoffs. The writing had already been on the wall and now it was filled in with permanent marker: If Ibaka wanted to play the role he’d established himself in, he wouldn’t be doing it on this team. So they traded him.
The Thunder and GM Sam Presti have previous form when it comes to this thing. James Harden was unsettled with his role off the bench and they traded him. Reggie Jackson had similar issues and they held off trading him which they almost certainly regret given how messy that whole thing got – there was more than a little bad blood when OKC and Detroit played last season.
But luckily for OKC, their mildly unhappy player happens to be a 26 year old with a decent contract (around $12m for one season) and plenty of value on the court. You can tell that immediate by what they were able to get back from the Orlando Magic.
Victor Oladipo is the centrepiece of the trade, a 24 year old guard who will probably replace Dion Waiters in the rotation, with Dion the Destroyer likely to field plenty of offers for his services after a fine season in OKC. He’s a very good defender, better than Waiters, though isn’t quite the shooter that they’d ideally like – even if his three point percentages have increased in each of his three NBA seasons, shooting 34.8% last time out. Plus, like Waiters, he’s a dude who can create his own shot. He averaged 16 points per game last season, and 17.9 the year before (when he averaged a couple extra minutes). The Magic drafted him at second overall in 2013. He has one more year on his rookie contract.
One dude the Thunder really love is Andre Roberson, their starting SG. That guy is a stunning defender as he showed in the playoffs… but he has a terrible jump shot and your 3&D man sorts needs to be able to do both of those things. Roberson has some great offensive cameos during that run but in the final game, that seventh clash with the Warriors, his 2/11 shooting (in 39 minutes) was one of the major differences in an eight point defeat. They couldn’t live defensively without him and they couldn’t live offensively with him, bit of an issue that. Dion Waiters also played 32 mins that game and missed all five of his three pointers. Maybe he returns, maybe he doesn’t but Oladipo is going to need to make some big steps forward as a shooter to make this a perfect fit. Still, he can do plenty of other things on offence.
Defensively there won’t be a single stumble. Look at the way that Waiters, Kanter, Adams, Westbrook… even Kevin Durant… all progressed as defenders under Billy Donovan’s tutelage and there’s nothing to worry about there.
Obviously Donovan has seen enough to think the Adams/Kanter duo can stay afloat on the court – which they did to brutal effect against the Spurs in the playoffs. But just in case he’s also added rookie #11 pick Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova. Adams can guard power forwards which makes it a simpler fit to pair him with his Stache Bro. Both Durant and Roberson spent a bit of time at 4 in the playoffs in smaller lineups too. But Ilyasova in particular makes a nice option as a spot starter or a bench scorer. He can shoot and he’s Turkish. It won’t be long before he’s growing a moustache too. (The Thunder can buy out Ilyasova’s $8.3m contract on the cheap but they say they don’t want to).
As for Sabonis, the son of Lithuanian basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis, he’s a 20 year old forward with decent size (granted he’s a little lanky) who plays tough and can score and rebound. Some decent skills in there too. Most likely a project player for now but Steven Adams will tell you they know what they’re doing in that respect. Man, just imagine this fresh-faced Lithuanian kid after a few months under Adams’ wing. It’s funny because after coming into the league and serving his apprenticeship under Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison, Adams is already the leader of the pack now at 22. He’s the big winner of this trade, arguably, because of the enormous regard this shows the Thunder has for him. Gotta think that with Ibaka’s contract extension no longer a worry (sounds like it wasn’t anyway, given this trade) that he can begin negotiations on his own sooner rather than later.
Assurances are that this will in no way affect Kevin Durant’s free agency plans. He’s reportedly beginning his meetings with the Thunder, Warriors and Spurs. If it were going to be a factor, it surely wouldn’t have happened so we’ll trust the sources on that one – retaining Durant is more important than anything for OKC. KD saw how it went in the playoffs, he saw the same thing that the rest of us did with the Thunder taking a glimpse into the future with a young, oversized yet supremely athletic rotation doing all sorts of heinous damage. Ibaka, a perfect mould of a traditional PF, didn’t quite fit that plan. They’ll likely find that they miss their defensive glue guy in a lot of unexpected ways (not the least of which being: ‘spacing’) but this was a move that was too good to turn down for a bloke that was most likely leaving for nothing in 12 months anyway.
From the Magic’s point of view, they gave up a lot but this isn’t the King’s Ransom that some are suggesting it is. Oladipo is a player they know better than anyone and he hasn’t quite lived up to the billing yet. He isn’t going to on this team, either. Instead they can move forward with Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja and Elfrid Payton and translate part of that youthful roster into an experienced leader. Serge Ibaka will get the role he wants on this team, he’ll block shots and rebound and he’ll score plenty of points. He’s a significant upgrade over Ilyasova and Oladipo is the price you pay to make up the difference. Did they have to add in Sabonis too? Maybe, the Thunder got ripped for the Harden Trade for years before Steven Adams emerged from the rubble like Terminator 2. They will have driven a hard bargain.
Ibaka’s in a contract year. So are the two guys they gave up. But unlike them, Ibaka is going to be given the keys to the car and he intends to drive that towards something like a max contract in 12 months’ time. Playing fourth fiddle on the Thunder won’t have done that. Playing 1.5th on the Magic probably will, so don’t discount the motivation. Plus let’s not forget that this dude is a leader and a defensive maestro and a winner. Add that into a young team and you have a tasty recipe for success. The Magic are coached by Frank Vogel now, remember. He did wonders with Roy Hibbert (until he didn’t any more) and he will absolutely adore a guy like Serge Ibaka. As well all that, here’s a rim-guarding PF who can cover for that particular deficiency in C Nikola Vucevic’s game. Yes, it was a lot to give up, but look at it this way: If they didn’t offer all that then they wouldn’t have gotten their guy, and which is more important? Sometimes we overthink these things.
It’s still a big risk for the Magic, more so than it was for the Thunder, as Oladipo was a #2 selection and a player that they’ve put plenty of time into. But despite averaging almost 16 points a game in his three seasons, he hasn’t quite come on like they’d hoped and while he finds himself still on his rookie contract he’s worth as much now as he’ll ever be. In Serge Ibaka they have a player that’s completely proven and still pretty young and in his prime, the kind of player that can take them from a team on the rise to a team to be properly feared. Chuck Serge into that starting five and it’s a completely different story. They’re a few free agents away from getting the Warriors or Spurs to look over their shoulder but they’re moving in the right direction.
Which leads smoothly into the hoped resurrection of Derrick Rose’s NBA career. Maybe. He’ll at least get the chance of a fresh start as he’s been sent to the New York Knicks along with Justin Holiday and a 2017 second rounder in return for Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon. Sneakily huge deal, this was.
Let’s get this out of the way first: Derrick Rose is nothing like the player that won the MVP a few years back. It’s a tragic thing but all those injuries have taken their toll as Rose is no longer the explosive playmaker that he once was. Missing 61% of games in the last three seasons will do that to you, when you consider the multiple knee reconstructions and all. There have been several false dawns and the odd tease of times now gone but the fact is that Rose had to leave. The Bulls fans were too accustomed to the MVP he was to nurse him through being the player he may have to accept that he now is. Or perhaps he’s really back to 100% now and due a resurgent season, but again Chicago has moved past that. Jimmy Butler has emerged as their top guy and the word is that the two don’t have a flawless relationship. Nothing bitter, they just don’t really mix.
It’s also sad because not only have the injuries taken their toll but now the Chicago native Rose is forced to try his hand elsewhere. There’ll be no LeBron-esque championship homecoming in this case. He was beloved in Chicago but the last few years that’s mostly been unfulfilled hopes. Moving on was the best thing for both teams.
Derrick Rose: “I’m 27 years old — there’s still so much ahead for me. I really believe this trade is a blessing. After all of the emotions passed through me, I started to realize how pumped I am for what comes next. I’m going to be playing alongside Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. This is an amazing opportunity. I can’t wait. I’m ready for New York.”
This trade is huge more because of the story behind Rose, rather than on-court implications, but it also has some big repercussions as far as each team goes. The Bulls have officially moved on, not just from Rose but probably from Joakim Noah too (another oft-injured lad). Fred Hoiberg did not have the best of times in his first season with the team and trying to nurse Rose back into things wasn’t working. He needs the ball in his hands… so does Jimmy Butler. That was a problem. Sentimentality aside, they are better without him and now Hoiberg can properly move this team forward in the way he wants to.
While the Knicks, well… who else was gonna give up big assets for Rose? Maybe the Lakers? The Kings? Some team at the foot of the standings with nothing to lose, most likely. Such a Knicks deal, not only are they investing in a point guard whose, at this moment, name outranks their ability but they gave up Robin Lopez to do it – their best centre and, with his contract, their most tradeable asset. Jose Calderon is so-so, he’s a point guard that they never really wanted but were landed with in the Tyson Chandler trade (they’d probably take that one back if they could) and the Bulls could do with a like for like. Jerian Grant, a young guard, could be the undercover steal of the trade. He’s a player the Bulls wanted to draft themselves but missed out on last year and although he didn’t make a huge impact with the Knicks, he could thrive playing more pick and roll stuff rather than triangle stuff (as is often said, it’s yet to be proven that the triangle is still viable in 2016 – but then the Knicks have been average so maybe it’s just the players).
Typically New York, Rose will sell plenty of jerseys. They’ll hype him up and throw him out there in that ruthless cauldron. Good luck with that. But honestly, good luck with that because nobody wants to see Rose continue to play as a shell of himself. In the last year of his contract, it’s a gamble that they can get out of though they’re already talking about extending that deal. Even Chicagoans will be wishing him the best.
The one blinding light of optimism in New York of recent times has been Kristaps Porzingis, out there balling like a beefier young Dirk Nowitzki. He’s a loser in this trade, now left to try find his shots behind Rose and Carmelo Anthony. Now, that’s a decent trio but the guards get their meals first – better start feeding on those off. Boards, son. This also leaves a large hole in the backcourt besides Porzo, which suggest that a free agency haul is likely. The Knicks always back themselves in the market and they’ve promised to go after Kevin Durant and Joakim Noah (old Chicago buddies reuniting, aye?) but they probably won’t get them. Free agents tend to prefer teams that they know will be competing.
Like the Bulls, for example. They shed the necessary weight of Derrick Rose and all the emotional stuff that goes with that while replacing him with a guy in Calderon who is a superb three shooter and can pass the ball well, running a selfless offence. Lopez should start and be an above average player in his position. Two starters plus an upside bench player for the cost of a point guard that didn’t fit, Jrue Holiday’s worse brother and a future second rounder. That’s one you wanna sign on the dotted line as quick as possible before you wake up and it was all a dream.
Oh, and in other news the Indiana Pacers traded for Jeff Teague, completing their transition from bumpers and grinders to runners and gunners once and for all. A three team trade including the Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks, the Hawks trading in on Teague to move forward with Dennis Schroder, a younger more well-rounded (they’re betting on) version of the same player.
Man, this stuff is fun – if only it were all as simple as it looks from here.