The Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic have completed a blockbuster trade on draft night, as reported by The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski and confirmed by CBS Sports' Ken Berger.
The Thunder will send big man Serge Ibaka to the Magic in exchange for guard Victor Oladipo, forward Ersan Ilyasova and the draft rights to big man Domantas Sabonis, who was selected at No. 11 in the 2016 NBA Draft on Thursday.
Let's grade the trade.
Receive: Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, No. 11 pick Domantas Sabonis
This is a success on a number of levels: Oklahoma City avoids having to deal with Ibaka's free agency in 2017 and gets protection against Dion Waiters getting a substantial offer sheet as a restricted free agent this summer. Oladipo is an upgrade over Waiters, Ilyasova provides the frontcourt 3-point shooting that the Thunder lost with Ibaka and Sabonis gives them another skilled frontcourt player along with Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Mitch McGary.
You don't trade a player like Ibaka without getting real contributors in return. That's what Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti did, and he did it after Ibaka had a pretty shaky season. Impressive deal.
Oladipo hasn't received a ton of attention outside of Orlando for the past three years, but he's by far the best shooting guard OKC has had since James Harden. He's earned rave reviews for his work ethic, and he's been desperate to start winning some games in the NBA. Expect a career season from him as long as Kevin Durant re-signs with the Thunder.
Ilyasova and Sabonis are both nice additions, but it is unclear how many minutes will be available for them in an increasingly crowded frontcourt. Ilyasova will thrive on the open looks he gets when Russell Westbrook and Durant are double-teamed. Sabonis will endear himself to Thunder fans with his energy, rebounding and skills with the ball in his hands. If the rookie develops a 3-point shot, then Presti might have pulled off a heist here.
Grade: A
Receive: Serge Ibaka
Orlando has addressed its biggest need: rim protection. Ibaka the perfect big man to play next to Nikola Vucevic because of his versatility on defense, shot-blocking and 3-point shooting. If Vucevic is eventually traded, then Ibaka still fits just fine as a center next to Aaron Gordon at power forward. The catch here is that the Magic need to convince Ibaka to stick around long-term, and they need to be willing to offer him major money.
Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan was in a bit of a bind with Oladipo, and it's not really Oladipo's fault. He did not fit in particularly well with guard Elfrid Payton because of Payton's inability to shoot from long range. Beyond that, the Magic have two other wing players who appear to be part of their core: Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja. They chose to clear up that logjam and acquire a player who is entering his prime and solves a lot of their problems.
The issue here is that Orlando surrendered a ton of talent, and this comes just a few months after it traded away the productive and promising Tobias Harris to the Detroit Pistons for Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings, who will be a free agent in July. The Magic have had a ton of assets at their disposal throughout their multi-year rebuild, but they have not always had a coherent plan.
This trade makes it clear that Hennigan wants to get Orlando back in the playoffs as soon as possible. Ibaka is a terrific player who will help that happen, but this is quite a price to pay.
Grade: B
