The Magic traded Victor Oladipo and the rights to Domantas Sabonis for Serge Ibaka then, after a failed half season in Orlando, flipped an unhappy Ibaka for a lesser shooting guard (Terrence Ross) and a lesser draft pick (the lower of the Raptors’ and Clippers’ first-rounders).
What went wrong in Orlando?
The Magic built a roster overloaded on big men, forcing Ibaka to play power forward nearly exclusively, next to Bismack Biyombo or Nikola Vucevic. It’s a bad plan that worked predictably poorly.
And Ibaka indicates he knew it would, asking Orlando coach Frank Vogel to play more center.
Ibaka, via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
The Magic used Ibaka just 88 minutes with neither Biyombo nor Vucevic on the court, per nbawoy!. Orlando played opponents even in that span -- not bad for a team that has been outscored by 6.3 points per 100 possessions, better than only the Nets and Lakers, this season.
But reducing minutes of Biyombo and Vucevic would have created its own complications. They wouldn’t have been happy to sit.
One way or another, this roster was going to cause problems. That’s why Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan is on the hot seat.
