By Cliff Tumetel /
On 23 June 2016, at exactly 7:00pm the NBA 2016 draft began. Young and talented players were drafted. The Orlando Magic were once again in the lottery as the eleventh pick and when it was their turn they drafted Domantas Sabonis. However, after a few hours in the draft the Orlando Magic made a shocking trade: they acquired Serge Ibaka but, in order to get this blocker, the Magic traded shooting guard Victor Oladipo, forward Ersan llyasova and the drafts rights to their eleventh pick.
While this seems good on paper we need to see the Orlando Magic roster and realize how the trade is going to turn out: they are filled with big men that need the paint to operate to their fullest potential.
Nikoloa Vucevic is a low post player so he needs the inside to utilize all his post moves. Bismack Biyombo a player that the Magic signed was in the Toronto Raptors and had his best moments in the 2016 NBA playoffs. In Game seven of the Raptors’ series with the Heat, Biyombo recorded 17 points and 16 rebounds and two blocks as a starter in an 116–89 win, helping the Raptors advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Even though the Raptors lost when facing the Cleveland Cavaliers Biyombo made Toronto playoff record with 26 rebounds and blocked a Lebron James dunk. All of this happened when he was in the starting role yet the Orlando Magic signed him and his role will be most likely a bench player when Ibaka comes in so why do you trade your shooting guard in Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka when Bismack Biyombo has shown himself as a shot blocker and rebounder. Trading Victor Oladipo was a mistake for the front office of the Magic.
Oladipo despite having a slow start was putting up numbers as the 2015-2016 season wore on. Statistically he is a well-rounded player for the Orlando Magic he’s young but at the end of the 2015-2016 season his PPG 15.9, RPG 4.4, SPG 1.6 and he can still improve. He can also help in the defensive side. Oladipo’s wingspan of 6’9″ allows him to rank top 20 among shooting guards in four defensive categories: forcing turnovers, contesting shots, defensive rebounds and loose balls possessions. Tom Crean, Victor Oladipo college coach noticed that Oladipo improved his basketball performances and said that he has “Quicker release. Less dip. Better step in,” Crean said of Oladipo tweaks. Better footwork all around. He spent a ton of time in the gym.”
The opposite could be said about Serge Ibaka. Starting in 2013 he had the highest PPG in his career in 15.1, RPG was 8.8 another highest stats in his career, BPG 2.7. Now as the years went on all of this began to drop and by the end of 2015-2016 season, his stats were PPG 12.6, RPG 6.8 and BPG 1.9.