Welcome to Loud City · Nov 13, 2016
Preview: Serge Ibaka returns home as floundering Magic engage the Thunder
The Magic are the new teammates of Serge Ibaka. Ibaka is pretty much tied with Westbrook as my favorite Thunder player of all time. So it was a real pain to see Ibaka leave this past season. However, as someone who wants the Thunder to win, I praise Presti for capitalizing on Ibaka’s value while it was high. From the Magic’s perspective, the trade was a move to establish veteran leadership on a young team. The Magic were very young last season, and led by a known disciplinarian in Scott Skiles. That version of the Magic had 35 wins and some talent, but played really uninspired ball. Skiles “stepped down” at the end of the season, claiming that this Magic team wasn’t right for him.