Everything Serge Ibaka

[Apollo]

The Magic basically traded away Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis for Terrence Ross and a pick in the upper 20s.

By the way, I'm not used to the Raptors winning at the trade deadline. I like it.

[Mess]

I would just like to take a moment and offer my condolences.

R.I.P. "Patterson should be starting"

2015-2017

[LJ2]

Well this trade sure does make the Danillo rumour make sense. We add DG and we can go toe to toe with the Cavs I think.

[Axel]

Judging by the first half of tonight's game, Ibaka better be the second coming of Hakeem.

Shameful effort. Casey got to go.

[Maury]

Judging by the first half of tonight's game, Ibaka better be the second coming of Hakeem.

Shameful effort. Casey got to go.

Agreed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Just Is]

Judging by the first half of tonight's game, Ibaka better be the second coming of Hakeem.

Shameful effort. Casey got to go.

Yeah; that part doesn't change.

Sent from my STV100-3 using Tapatalk

[LJ2]

Judging by the first half of tonight's game, Ibaka better be the second coming of Hakeem.

Shameful effort. Casey got to go.

Didn't catch the first half. Was Casey playing?

[Raptor Jesus]

Logged 24 mins nothing to show for it

[Puffer]

Has Ibaka experienced good coaching in his career so far? If so, Toronto might be quite a shock to his system.

[Chr1s1anL]

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/stor...rence-ross-nba

Toronto Raptors: A-


Over the past 10 days, with Patrick Patterson sidelined by a knee contusion, the Raptors' power forward spot has probably been the single weakest position for any contender.

On Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, Toronto coach Dwane Casey resorted to starting rookie center Jakob Poeltl alongside fellow 7-footer Jonas Valanciunas, with yet another 7-footer (Lucas Nogueira) as the backup 4. Pistons forward Tobias Harris lit up the bigger defenders for 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting as Detroit rallied from a 16-point deficit after three quarters to hand the Raptors their 10th loss in the last 14 games.

Serge Ibaka-Terrence Ross trade: Fantasy winners and losers
The Toronto Raptors acquired Serge Ibaka from the Orlando Magic for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first-round pick. Here is how the swap will affect your fantasy squads.

Something had to be done, and with Paul Millsap not going anywhere (according to the Hawks), Ibaka was the best power forward on the market. I like the aggressiveness of Toronto's move because despite the team's slide, which has dropped the Raptors into a tie with Millsap's Hawks for fourth in the East, they still have a better point differential (plus-4.4 points per game) than any team in the conference save the Cleveland Cavaliers (plus-5.3) -- who are dealing with their own slump and just lost Kevin Love for the next six weeks to knee surgery.

When it comes to assessing teams, observers tend to put too much weight on how they've played recently and don't place enough importance on how well they've played overall. That and the superior predictive power of point differential as compared to record are why ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI) still has Toronto as the East's second-best team, within striking distance of the Cavaliers.

Those wins and losses still count, so the Raptors will have a hard time making up the six games by which they trail Cleveland unless the Cavaliers bottom out without Love. And the Boston Celtics, four games ahead in the standings, will also be tough to catch. At this point, the best likely scenario for Toronto would be passing the Washington Wizards -- who play 18 of their remaining 28 games on the road -- for third while Cleveland hangs on to first, setting up a potential Celtics-Raptors matchup in the conference semifinals.

Adding Ibaka certainly gives Toronto a better chance in that hypothetical series. They've struggled all season -- not just the past week -- to fill the minutes Patterson doesn't play at power forward. Per NBA.com/Stats, the Raptors have been outscored this season with Patterson on the bench (minus-0.5 net rating) and morph into an elite team (plus-13.6 net rating) with him on the court.

While Patterson is an underrated role player, having one of the league's largest on-court/off-court differentials speaks to the weakness of Toronto's other options at the position. Jared Sullinger began training camp as the starting power forward, but after a foot injury caused him to gain weight, any hope he had of defending stretch 4s is now a thing of the past. Defenses don't respect rookie Pascal Siakam, and Poeltl and Nogueira bring the same spacing issues playing out of position.

So merely adding a competent power forward would be a major upgrade for the Raptors. Ibaka is better than that. His 3-point shooting (he's making a career-high 38.8 percent beyond the arc this season and is a 36.5 percent career shooter) will open up the floor for guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry as Patterson (36.6 percent career from 3) does. And though Ibaka is no longer the elite shot-blocker he was in his younger, more athletic days, he can still help the Raptors with secondary rim protection.

Toronto did have to give up a rotation piece in Ross, a part of the team's effective bench units. Come playoff time, however, the Raptors were unlikely to have enough wing minutes for both Ross and Norman Powell to be rotation regulars. Powell is younger and cheaper, and his development surely made it easier for Toronto to part with Ross.

I'm inclined to believe this trade makes the Raptors the East's second-best team behind the Cavaliers and dramatically improves their chances of reaching the conference finals for the second straight year. Will it be enough to compete with Cleveland? That's tougher to say, but Ibaka certainly gives Casey more options for matching up with the Cavaliers' smaller lineups that were devastatingly effective in last year's East finals matchup. Toronto might well end up finishing games with Ibaka and Patterson as its frontcourt, putting five shooters on the court and improving the chances of staying with Cleveland's shooters.

Things get trickier going forward, with both Ibaka and Patterson as unrestricted free agents this summer. Dealing Ross' $10.5 million salary gives the Raptors a bit more flexibility, but maxing out Lowry would put them within striking distance of the luxury tax before attempting to re-sign either Ibaka or Patterson.

A source told ESPN that Toronto is confident of re-signing Ibaka. Perhaps that means letting Patterson go if the market gets too hot for a player who will be in his 30s by the end of a four-year contract. Or maybe the Raptors plan to re-sign both players and pay up to keep the best run in franchise history going.

Either way, the price was good for a rental. Ross is a useful bench piece but doesn't have much value above and beyond his salary and the first-round pick Toronto will give up -- the worse of its own first-rounder and one belonging to the LA Clippers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical -- will surely be in the 20s, and possibly in the late 20s.

If Ibaka means the difference between getting to the conference finals and falling short, the Raptors won't regret that at all.

some of you need read the bold a couple times

[Joey]

Has Ibaka experienced good coaching in his career so far? If so, Toronto might be quite a shock to his system.

Casey broke CoJo down in not even 2 seasons, after several under Pop .. Ibaka should be easy peasy for Case.

[consmap]

Casey broke CoJo down in not even 2 seasons, after several under Pop .. Ibaka should be easy peasy for Case.

In 5 games Serge will become a strict spot up 3 pt shooter on offense

[Scraptor]

Don't know if anyone posted this, but from the horse's mouth:

'No ... They almost hurt me when I was negotiating' Ujiri jokes when asked if timing was tied to Lowry/DeRozan comments

https://mobile.twitter.com/michaelgr...46793666527232

[GLF]

Question, what positions in the standings do we have to avoid to not have to play Cleveland in the second round?

[Ball]

Question, what positions in the standings do we have to avoid to not have to play Cleveland in the second round?

2, 3, 6, or 7