Magic Exploring Possible Serge Ibaka Deal?
The Magic have “picked up their attempts” to trade Serge Ibaka before next month’s deadline, league sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. According to Deveney, Orlando has experienced some “buyers’ remorse” after trading for Ibaka last summer, and the team is looking to get something for him to avoid the risk of losing him for nothing in free agency.
Although Deveney suggests that there’s pessimism about Ibaka re-signing with the Magic this summer, he adds that people around the NBA aren’t sure what the former Oklahoma City big man will do in free agency, which complicates his trade market. Teams would be unwilling to give up a significant return to rent Ibaka for a few months.
“They’re asking too much,” one front office executive said of the Magic, per Deveney. “(The Magic) would probably like to make a few moves there, but Ibaka is the one they’re really pushing because he is going to leave. But they have had too high a price. They want a young player and a pick, two young players — you know, a package that can get them back some assets. They’re not going to get that. Not for three, maybe four months of Serge Ibaka.”
The Magic surrendered their 2016 lottery pick (Domantas Sabonis) along with Victor Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova when they acquired Ibaka, signaling that they expected the 27-year-old to be a part of the long-term plan. However, the club has struggled this season and appears to be slipping out of playoff contention, with a 19-30 record, reducing the odds of Ibaka wanting to re-sign with Orlando in July.
General manager Rob Hennigan said last week that he expects to be “aggressive” in pursuing ways to improve Orlando’s roster, and addressing the club’s frontcourt logjam would be a good place to start. With Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo joining a group that already featured Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, there aren’t enough minutes to go around, and Gordon has spent a lot of time playing out of position.
According to Deveney, there’s “no chance” of a trade involving Biyombo, who signed a four-year, $68MM deal last summer. Gordon is also a key part of the Magic’s long-term plan, which leaves Ibaka and Vucevic as possible trade candidates. We heard last week that the Celtics were among the teams to talk to Orlando about Vucevic.
As for Ibaka, even if he’s no more than a rental piece, there should be several teams with interest in talking to the Magic about a deal. Deveney identifies the Celtics, Rockets, and Raptors as a few potential suitors, though he cites a source who says Toronto isn’t very interested in giving up Terrence Ross in a trade for Ibaka.
DeRozan Returns From Ankle Sprain
- After three games on the sidelines nursing a sprained ankle, DeMar DeRozan made his return for the Raptors on Sunday. The shooting guard played 36 minutes for Toronto but, according to Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, looked slow out of the gates.
NBA D-League Recalls/Assignments: 1/29/17
Here are the D-League transactions from the day:
8:33pm:
- The Trail Blazers have assigned guard Tim Quarterman to the D-League, the team has announced on its website. He’ll suit up with with Windy City Bulls.
6:58pm:
- The Raptors have recalled Jared Sullinger, Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright, tweets the team’s media relations department. In his lone game of action, a rehab stint, Sullinger scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
- The Bulls have recalled rookie Denzel Valentine from their D-League affiliate, the team has announced via press release. The guard dropped 24 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his only performance.
Nogueira Steps In As Biyombo Replacement
- Though they lost Bismack Biyombo to free agency over the summer, the Raptors have a suitable replacement in Lucas Nogueira, says Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. Nogueira rivals Biyombo in terms of rim protection, Ganter says, but their playing styles deviate from there. Nogueira’s offensive awareness and soft hands are traits Biyombo never displayed in Toronto.
NBA D-League Assignment/Recalls 1/25/17
Here are Wednesday’s D-League transactions:
- The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright to their D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Coboclo has played in 16 D-League contests this season and he’s averaging 8.8 points per game. Wright has only played in one game and he scored 10 points.
- The Clippers have recalled Diamond Stone from the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s website. Stone appeared in six games during his latest assignment and he scored 15.5 points and 10.8 rebound per game.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Troy Williams from the Iowa Energy, per the team’s website. Memphis currently doesn’t have its own D-League affiliate, but that won’t be the case starting next season.
- The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from their affiliate, the Long Island Nets, according to a team press release. McCullough has played in 25 games for Long Island and he’s averaging 19.0 points per contest.
NBA D-League Recalls/Assignments: 1/24/17
Here are the D-League transactions from the day:
- The Raptors have recalled point guard Delon Wright and forward Bruno Caboclo from their D-League affiliate, says the team’s media relations department over Twitter. In 15 games Caboclo has averaged 9.1 points for the Raptors 905 while Wright has missed the entire season thus far on account of a shoulder injury.
- The Kings have assigned rookie big man Georgios Papagiannis to their D-League affiliate tweets James Ham of Comcast SportsNet. In 13 games with the Reno Bighorns, Papagiannis has averaged 10.9 points and 7.6 rebounds.
- The Nets have assigned forward Chris McCullough to their D-League affiliate, the team has announced in a press release. In 24 games with the Long Island Nets, McCullough has averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan To Be Re-Evaluated Later This Week
- A pair of Atlantic stars are out of action for the next few days. Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan will miss at least two games for Toronto before his ankle sprain is re-evaluated, according to the team (Twitter link). Meanwhile, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link) that Joel Embiid is expected to return to the Sixers on Friday after missing three games.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 1/23/17
Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright have been sent to the Raptors‘ D-League affiliate, the team announced today (via Twitter). The duo figures to be in action for the Raptors 905 tonight against the Texas Legends.
- The Pacers have recalled Rakeem Christmas and Joseph Young from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to a press release issued by the club. Both players have played sparingly for Indiana this season.
- Rookie forward Joel Bolomboy has been recalled to the NBA by the Jazz, per a press release. Bolomboy put up 19 points and nine rebounds for the Salt Lake City Stars on Sunday.
- The Trail Blazers are sending 2016 second-rounder Jake Layman on an assignment with the Windy City Bulls, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Portland doesn’t have a D-League affiliate of its own, so Layman will play for Chicago’s team via the flexible assignment rule.
- The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from Long Island in advance of Brooklyn’s game against San Antonio tonight, the team announced in a press release.
And-Ones: All-Star Snubs, BIG3, Team USA
The starters for this year’s NBA All-Star Game were announced this week and, as always, people were quick to disagree with the players selected. Unique this year is the fact that fans don’t shoulder all of the blame. This year the fans accounted for just 50% of the vote, while the media accounted for 25% and players accounted for 25%.
There were plenty of hot takes about what should have happened, but none more memorable than Clippers head coach Doc Rivers‘ regarding the snub of Russell Westbrook. To ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, Rivers said: “Fake news. I am just shocked that fans don’t see the same things we see.”
Also among Westbrook supporters were Sam Amick of USA Today and Kevin Garnett.
“This might be the league’s all-time history snub right here,” Garnett said on his TV show Area 21. “Seriously. He has to be on the team, bruh.”
Another guard left out of the starting lineup was Kyle Lowry and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today made a case for him over either Kyrie Irving or DeMar DeRozan.
Lang Whitaker of NBA.com discussed the official list of starters.
There are more general headlines from around the league:
- Count Ricky Davis and Al Harrington among the retired players expected to sign on with the BIG3, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
- With the trade deadline a month away, Keith Smith of RealGM explored the most tradeable contracts in the NBA. Draymond Green, for example, looks to be a bargain given the under-market deal he signed in 2015.
- A report at NBA.com implies that LeBron James could play for Team USA in the 2020 Olympics. The fact that Gregg Popovich will lead the program has had a significant impact. “It factors a lot,” James said. “I’ve said that before. He’s just a great mastermind of the game of basketball.”
Sullinger On His Return
- Jared Sullinger made his season debut for the Raptors on Wednesday and although the team lost, he felt like he exceed his own expectations, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star relays. “I was able to keep up with the game,” Sullinger said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to keep up, especially how hard and how fast the Sixers play, but I was able to keep up with the game.”