Finding himself out of the post-Kevin Durant era in Oklahoma City, new after being traded for Victor Oladipo to the Orlando Magic, Serge Ibaka could stay or go as soon as the All-Star break depending of the team's performance.
The 27-year-old Congo native was effusively optimistic about his chances of staying in the city long-term.
“I’m looking to stay here to play forever – for (as) many, many years as possible,” Ibaka said on Media Day.
The Magic would need to be in the playoff race at the very least to consider keeping Ibaka, who is in the last year of his deal and given that he's in his eighth year in the league and a versatile commodity, will likely be asking for a royal sum from the team come next summer.
Via Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:
“If the team stumbles out of the gate and/or Ibaka isn’t contributing as advertised, the Magic would even have to consider listening to trade offers for him at the deadline. This scenario has to be in the back of (GM Rob) Hennigan’s mind anyway, for no other reason than you don’t want Ibaka walking away without compensation.”
The Magic have many young, exciting pieces on the roster to sacrifice giving someone like Ibaka, a player who made his name as a shot-blocker, a crazy sum of money only to justify the trade for Oladipo. In fact, Ibaka's defensive numbers have been on the decline the past three years, though he is still considered an elite defender because of his ability to defend multiple positions.
While Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic are expected to carry the majority of the scoring load, Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo are the only two rim protectors in the roster and it will be largely dependent on them whether the Magic can stay in games or not.
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