The Oklahoma City Thunder traded forward Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and the newly drafted Domantas Sabonis, perhaps tweaking the roster to appeal to soon-to-be free agent Kevin Durant. Ibaka has been one of the league’s top defenders, but his offensive production has dipped the past two seasons. He averaged career-highs of 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in 2013-2014, but those numbers fell to 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds last season.
Oladipo fills Oklahoma City’s need for a two-way shooting guard. He averaged 16 points and 4.8 rebounds last season. Sabonis, the No. 11 overall pick, is the son of former NBA player Arvydas Sabonis. The 6-11 power forward from Gonzaga averaged 17.6 points and 11.8 rebounds last season.
In other trades the NBA officially announced:
The Sacramento Kings traded the rights to freshman forward Marquese Chriss of Washington, the No. 8 pick, to the Phoenix Suns for the rights to center Georgios Papagiannis of Greece, the No. 13 pick, the rights to freshman Skal Labissiere of Kentucky, the No. 28 pick, a 2020 second-round draft pick and the rights to guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Los Angeles Clippers traded the rights to freshman center Cheick Diallo of Kansas, the No. 33 pick, to the New Orleans Pelicans for the rights to guard David Michineau of France, the 39th pick, and freshman center Diamond Stone of Maryland, the No. 40 pick.
The Milwaukee Bucks traded the rights to guard Patrick McCaw of UNLV, the No. 38 pick, to the Golden State Warriors for financial considerations.
The Utah Jazz traded the rights to guard Isaiah Whitehead, the No. 42 pick, to the Brooklyn Nets for guard Marcus Paige, the No. 55 pick, and cash.
In other trades, none of which were officially announced by the NBA,:
The Brooklyn Nets traded forward Thaddeus Young to Indiana for the rights to guard Caris LeVert of Michigan, the No. 20 pick, and a future second-round draft pick.
The Charlotte Hornets traded the rights to freshman guard Malachi Richardson of Syracuse, the No. 22 pick, to Sacramento for guard Marco Belinelli.
The Boston Celtics traded the rights to freshman forward Deyonta Davis of Michigan State, the No. 31 pick, and forward Rade Zagorac of Serbia, the No. 35 pick, to the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2019 first-round draft pick.