Magic select Domantas Sabonis, who says he is headed to OKC

Russell Westbrook and Ibaka will both be unrestricted free agents after next season and if Durant left and Westbrook and Ibaka followed suit after next season, the Thunder would be left bare of their star core.

Last season, Ibaka averaged 12.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game on 47.9 per cent shooting.

“He provides a toughness, a defensive presence which I don’t think they had”, said an National Basketball Association scout who was granted anonymity because his team did not authorize him to speak publicly.

In another report by Darren Hartwell for NESN, Ibaka is now on his final year with the Thunder, out of a four-year contract.

But in return they get two, maybe even three, handy pieces. Add Ibaka to it, and the money starts flying everywhere.

He was set to be paid more than $12 million next year by OKC. He may not come cheap, but it could be a good investment for Oklahoma City. The team can generate up to $48 million in cap space if it makes a series of procedural moves. With Oladipo, the Thunder improves their perimeter defense with two uber-athletic guards. That’s probably more meaningful in the doomsday scenario where Kevin Durant leaves via free agency, in which case Oklahoma City could replace him with a max player. Yeah, it wasn’t easy playing different roles and both ends of the floor.

The addition of Ersan Ilyasova presents some options for the Thunder. Ilyasova is a seasoned veteran who will be joining his fourth team in just over a calendar year.

“They were 30 minutes away from the finals”, Sabonis said.

But Durant will have suitors, and despite Oklahoma City’s financial advantage, the whispers about the Warriors are tough to quiet. The reason why they could not bring home a trophy was the Golden State Warriors.

The summer now belongs to Kevin Durant.

The re-signign of Durant remains the Thunder’s primary goal. He is a restricted free agent, and adding Oladipo softens the blow if the Thunder aren’t able to keep him.

This past season, Oklahoma City mostly used a combination of defensive stopper Andre Roberson and the scoring-minded Dion Waiters at shooting guard.

Waiters, while a solid offensive threat, shot 35.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc last season and has a 33.4 percent career mark.

Sabonis is a bit of a more traditional big man compared to Ilyasova. Nothing has changed after the Celtics wasted the third-overall pick on Jaylen Brown, a terrific athlete with an inconsistent jump shot and weak handles.

Orlando’s plan during their rebuild was to collect assets in an attempt to build a consistent playoff contender. He will share the frontcourt with center Nikola Vucevic. However, they do already have Evan Fournier, Elfrid Payton, and Mario Hezonja running the backcourt. And I know whenever I stand up here and say this, no one ever writes it, but I’ve got to say it anyway because I really mean it: We are so fortunate to have a group of people that work as hard as our scouts, and I trust them implicitly and they’re critical to nights like this.

Losing out on Sabonis is the strangest part for the Magic.

After reviewing the trade, the motive of the Magic is still unclear.

Seconds after selecting Domantas Sabonis with the 11th overall pick, news began breaking that the Orlando Magic were trading Sabonis, along with Victor Oladipo and Ersan Ilyasova to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Serge Ibaka.

Some organizations just never learn.