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Serge Ibaka didn't ask to be traded, but he welcomes the deal to Orlando

Serge Ibaka strikes a pose in Milan. (Getty Images)
Serge Ibaka strikes a pose in Milan. (Getty Images)

In 2015-16, for the fifth straight season, forward Serge Ibaka started each of the games he played in for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The same held over for his fifth straight postseason last spring, as Ibaka’s rebounding, shot-blocking, finishing and sometimes floor-spacing talents had been an OKC mainstay since the team vaulted into championship contention during Ibaka’s second season in the NBA, way back in 2010-11.

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The “had been” qualifier has been in place since late June, when Ibaka was semi-shockingly traded from the Thunder to the Orlando Magic in a deal that sent Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and lottery selection Domantas Sabonis back to the Thunder. Ibaka’s name had been mentioned in trade rumors dating all the way back to before February’s trade deadline, but it still was a major surprise to see both sides follow through on sending one of the great players in OKC’s short history to another team.

Though Ibaka’s work had been overshadowed a bit by the MVP-level play of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in previous years, alongside the emergence of center Steven Adams, the Congo native did not raise a hackle about his new role or the league’s evolving perception of him, nor did he ask to be dealt. Serge confirmed as much in a column he penned for The Cauldron recently:

I never asked to be traded, even though there was a lot of media conjecture that I was unhappy with my role. I had an exit meeting with Billy Donovan and Sam Presti after the season, and it went well. But this is still a business, everybody has to do what’s best for them, and I let my agent deal with the business side of things. I just focus on basketball. I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to go in and ask for a trade, and I would have been happy staying with the Thunder.

Playing in the NBA was my dream, and I’d be happy playing anywhere.

Ibaka references this NBA dream after discussing what must have been a summer that put former teammate Kevin Durant’s to shame, at least in terms of intrigue and excitement.

Durant famously left Oklahoma City to become a former-former teammate of sorts in joining the Golden State Warriors, and while KD went to Rio to take part in the 2016 Olympiad that Ibaka (a 2012 silver medalist for Team Spain) skipped, Serge apparently has taken in quite a bit over the 2016 offseason.

Ibaka was in Antalya, Turkey and scheduled to take part in a charity soccer match when the failed Turkish military coup hit during the second week of July. The obvious eventual match cancellation necessitated a frightful and too-long stay at the hotel after most flights out of Turkey were grounded, but Ibaka eventually left the country safely. He also visited Paris (where he lived briefly in his first pro season), Milan and Barcelona before returning stateside to resume training for the 2016-17 season.

And what a weird season it will be.

Not strange. Weird.

“Strange” (as Ibaka points out) is thinking of Dwyane Wade in a Bulls jersey. “Weird” is the settlement full of paint-bashers in Orlando, with Ibaka suiting up next to Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo, Aaron Gordon and possibly Jeff Green up front. All five have their merits away from the hoop, and it is possible that new Magic coach Frank Vogel will be able to create some crazy brand of chemistry with what Ibaka admits is a bit of a “smashmouth” crew of sub-All-Stars.

Ibaka, for one, cannot wait to play for Vogel, who was hired following his dismissal from Indiana by former Oklahoma City Thunder executive and current Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan:

“I’m thrilled to be in Orlando. I know that might sound crazy to some people, that I’m excited to go from a contender like the Thunder to a rebuilding team, one that hasn’t made the playoffs in four years, but playing now for Frank Vogel, a coach who prides himself on defense, is very exciting for me. We have a core of like-minded, young, athletic players, which is going to be very fun. We are an old-school, smashmouth team, and I can’t wait to don a Magic uniform on opening night.”

Such a move might be in Ibaka’s best interests, even with that crowded Magic frontcourt.

Serge’s offensive responsibilities dimmed somewhat in his final two years with the Thunder, but his drop-off in shots per minute and usage rate was hardly a precipitous decline. His rebounding and shot-blocking rates, however, did take a nosedive at the worryingly young ages of 25 and 26. Ibaka won’t turn 27 until mid-September, but his step backward was a little frightening.

Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard all boasted better rebound rates than Ibaka last season, and it’s safe to say that each of those stars had quite a few other responsibilities to mind. Serge had no such excuse for the tail-off. Ibaka’s all-around defense has improved of late, but his block rate has been more than cut in half since his league-leading mark from 2011-12, as he doesn’t give off the impression of the fearsome weak-side defender that had the Western Conference looking over its shoulder for years.

That can’t all be blamed on the emergence of Adams, the shot-making acumen of Westbrook and Durant, or the absence of the ability of Kendrick Perkins to generously allow Ibaka to chase after all of those rebounds that Perkins declined to pull in. Something hit, weirdly (again), in the last two years for Serge, and his production and on-court presence dipped as a result.

He didn’t demand a trade, but with a year left on his contract, he’s likely happy with his new surroundings. Even if he’ll be asked to cede minutes to the two well-paid centers already on Orlando’s roster, or the lottery pick and unofficial Slam Dunk co-champion that the franchise already pegged as its power forward of the future.

From Ibaka’s piece in the Players’ Tribune:

I couldn’t be more excited to play with the young big men in Orlando. There’s a lot of talent on this team. We’re going to be flying around the court this year. I’m looking forward to going to work with them. I’m a different player than when I first came into the league. I understand that it’s time for me to take on a new role. Now I’m going to be one of the veterans.

We’re looking forward to the turnaround.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!