The Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Serge Ibaka; Kevin Durant’s Fate Looms

Perhaps the bigger move for Oklahoma City is that they feel draft pick Domantas Sabonis is a ready replacement for Ibaka and someone to pair next to Steven Adams and Enes Kanter.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver opens the 2016 NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in NY. On the other, if Durant leaves, the Thunder will still have plenty of talent to surround Russell Westbrook with.

In the aftermath of this surprising deal, the natural next question arose: what does this mean for the Kevin Durant sweepstakes that are set to start on July 1?

Oladipo gives the Thunder another young wing player to add to their rotation, a shooting guard who can play both ends of the floor at a high level. His 2-point percentage has declined from 55.4 percent over his first five seasons to 51.6 percent the last two.

“Victor, Ersan and Domantas represent the character, work ethic and toughness that we relentlessly pursue with the Thunder”, Thunder General Manager Sam Presti said. He’s been a great citizen of Oklahoma City, and we’re confident that he’s going to continue his career trajectory with the Magic in Orlando. “He’s tough-minded, competitive and selfless”, Presti said. This past season, Oklahoma City used a combination of defensive stopper Andre Roberson and the scoring-minded Dion Waiters at that spot, with Randy Foye mixed in. With the cap increasing, the market for Waiters is expected to get out of what the Thunder could afford given his purely supplementary role and Oladipo provides a more consistent defensive presence and ballhandling. The Thunder are also avoiding contract issues with Ibaka by replacing him with Oladipo who will be a restricted free agent, allowing the Thunder to have better control over him than they would have over Serge. Richardson, who led the Orange to the Final Four last season, will join the Kings after the trade is approved by the league. “We wish him and Ersan [Ilyasova] the best of luck in the future”. The Hornets will be on the hook for the remaining $13.26 million over the next two seasons for Belinelli.

Ibaka, 26, played seven seasons with the Thunder where he emerged as one of the NBA’s most prolific shot blockers.

He posted the lowest block and rebound rates of his career last season, his three-point shooting dipped after a couple of years of progress and, in what was probably the most bothersome issue for Ibaka, his usage rate hit its lowest point since the 2011-12 season. He went to college at IN, where he averaged 10.7 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game over three seasons.

With the third overall pick, the Celtics took forward Jaylen Brown, an athletic freak who didn’t consistently produce at Cal, before adding two worldwide frontcourt players with their other first round selections.

Jamal Murray averaged 20 points per game for Kentucky last season, the best mark of any freshman in Wildcats history. Imagine how differently the conference finals might have played out had Golden State needed to win twice on Oklahoma City’s home court after falling behind 3-1.

Franchise officials have said repeatedly they want to add veteran difference-makers, and Hennigan said the team would be active in trade talks before the draft.

Sabonis is agile but doesn’t have a ton of length or explosion and will need to really become a much more skilled version of his current self to become even a rotation player.

Philadelphia canned general manager San Hinkie, but benefitted from the latest season of tanking by landing LSU’s Ben Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.