By John Denton Feb. 14, 2017
ORLANDO – Looking to protect themselves against a potential loss in free agency
and bolster both their 3-point shooting and chemistry, the Orlando Magic
acquired Terrence Ross and a first-round pick and traded Serge Ibaka to Toronto
on Tuesday.
The deal became official on Tuesday afternoon following a trade call between the
Magic, Raptors and the NBA. Ross, 26, must pass a physical before he can play
with the Magic, but there is an outside chance he could be in uniform on
Wednesday night when the Magic (21-36) host the San Antonio Spurs (42-13) at the
Amway Center.
“In welcoming Terrence to the Magic family, we have addressed a need by adding
athleticism, shooting and scoring ability to our developing, young core, while
also making our roster more versatile,” Magic GM Rob Hennigan said in a
statement. “We thank Serge for his contributions and professionalism, and
certainly wish him well.”
In Ross, the Magic get a highly efficient 3-point shooter who is contractually
signed through the 2018-19 season. The fifth-year guard has averaged 10.4 points
and 2.6 rebounds in 54 games this season for Toronto. This season, he’s scored
in double digits 27 times and he’s accounted for 20-or-more points five times,
including a season-best 25 points on Dec. 12 in Milwaukee.
Ross, the No. 8 pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, scored a career-best 51 points by
making 16 of 29 shots, 10 of 17 3-pointers and nine of 10 free throws on Jan.
26, 2014. Other career achievements for Ross came from him using his
breathtaking athleticism and explosiveness off the floor to win the 2013 NBA
Slam Dunk title and the 2014 team dunk title along with Paul George and John
Wall.
“Obviously, the guy is an athlete and he’s a terrific shooter,” Magic guard
Evan Fournier said on Tuesday. “I think his career high is 51, so when the guy
gets hot, he gets really hot. He’s been on a winning team for a few years now
and he has that big-game experience. So he brings a lot.”
Orlando acquired Ibaka on draft night last June, knowing that the shot-swatting
power forward could be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 of this year. With
the Magic languishing and currently outside the playoff race, the franchise
acted proactively to acquire an asset before Ibaka looked to leave in free
agency.
The Magic’s hope was that they could rotate big men Nikola Vucevic, Bismack
Biyombo and Ibaka into their lineup this season and still hold up defensively
against the growing NBA trend of “small ball.” However, the Magic have too
often been burned by teams that aligned three and four 3-point shooters around
the arc and either shot over or drove past Orlando’s bigger lineups.
“It’s been a challenge because what the league has done over the last few years
has been dramatic in terms of the style of play and the sophisticated offenses
that you are seeing now,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said of his team’s struggles
in trying to adapt to 3-point-heavy, “small-ball” lineups. “You see the
offensive numbers just sky-rocketing league-wide. I don’t think anyone in the
Eastern Conference has a defensive rating under 102 (points per 100
possessions). That just wasn’t that way a year or two years ago and it’s largely
about the spread lineups that you are seeing.
“So it has been tough to play two bigs,” Vogel continued. “That’s why we went
to putting (Biyombo) solely as the back-up center.”
Orlando paid a hefty price for Ibaka, sending Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and
first-round pick Domantas Sabonis to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the power
forward. In essence, the Magic chose Fournier – signed to a five-year contract
extension last summer – over Oladipo because of the dramatic difference in the
efficiency of their play.
Orlando took a gamble on the 27-year-old Ibaka, hoping that his shot-blocking
and paint presence would dramatically improve their defense. While the 6-foot-10
Ibaka did block a team-best 1.61 shots a game this season, Orlando’s defense has
sagged into the bottom-five in the NBA much of the past two months.
The Magic were correct in thinking that an increased role in their offense would
help Ibaka’s scoring as he averaged a career-best 15.1 points while ranking
second on the team in field goal percentage (48.8 percent) and second in 3-point
percentage (38.8 percent).
Ibaka made seven of nine shots and had a 3-pointer and two free throws for 17
points in Orlando’s 116-107 defeat of the Miami Heat on Monday night. Ibaka’s
work on the glass helped the Magic hold a 52-37 rebounding edge over the rival
Heat. The win allowed the Magic to snap a four-game losing streak.
“Serge has been very helpful to our team and he’s been great,” said Biyombo,
who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Ibaka came out of the
Republic of Congo. “(Monday) night I thought he did a really good job on both
ends of the floor.”
On-court chemistry has been a problem all season for a Magic team that tried
incorporating nine new players along with a new coaching staff led by Vogel. Too
often, the Magic have had communication breakdowns on pick-and-roll plays and
switch-outs onto open 3-point shooters – plays that have resulted in some wildly
erratic play. Despite hopes that it would be back in the postseason, Orlando
sits 5 1/2 games out of the No. 8 seed largely because it has gone 50 days
without winning consecutive games.
“We’re a struggling team – there’s no other way to say it,” Fournier said.
“It’s been a rough, rough season with so many ups and downs. Great wins and
terrible losses that don’t really make sense because we have the potential to be
good. But, again, we have to be consistent. You can’t explain why you win in San
Antonio by double digits, but lose at home to Phoenix. It just doesn’t make
sense.”
Ross, a 6-foot-7, 195-pounder, gives the Magic more positional versatility as he
can play either shooting guard or small forward. He was mostly buried behind
all-stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry in Toronto, but in Orlando he will be
given every chance to play big minutes because of the team’s need to improve its
3-point shooting.
“He is a good player and I like him as a person,” said Biyombo, who played
with Ross last season in Toronto. “There are a lot of positives, I can tell you
that. I like him. I had a chance to compete with him and play with him, and it
was great.”
In 363 NBA games (132 starts), Ross has averaged 9.5 points and 2.6 rebounds a
game while shooting 37.6 percent from 3-point range. In 31 playoff games, Ross
has averaged 6.1 points and 1.7 rebounds.
Ross, who played two years of college basketball at the University of Washington
prior to turning pro, is shooting a career-best 44.1 percent from the floor this
season while knocking down 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. He has made at
least one 3-pointer in 42 games this season and he’s drilled at least three in a
game 16 times.
The Magic got a close look at Ross’ abilities when the teams played three times
this season – two of which resulted in Orlando victories. In those three games
against the Magic, Ross averaged 13.3 points and 1.3 steals while making 11 of
21 3-pointers. In 80 minutes against the Magic this season, Ross is a plus-47 –
meaning his five-player grouping outscored the opposition by 47 points while he
was on the floor.
The Raptors are scheduled to face the Bulls in Chicago on Tuesday night and
return to Toronto to play the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. Orlando’s final
game before the All-Star break comes on Wednesday and it doesn’t play again
until Feb. 23 when it hosts the Portland Trail Blazers.
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the
Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do
not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations
staff, partners or sponsors.
Player: Serge Ibaka
Player: Terrence Ross
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