Thunder Take Aim At Warriors With Oladipo-Ibaka Swap

The Oklahoma City Thunder sent Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic on Thursday night in exchange for a package centered around guard Victor Oladipo. In making that move, the Thunder showed they had fully embraced small ball and, in doing so, fired a shot across the bow of the Golden State Warriors.

While Ibaka has been an important piece for the Thunder over the past few seasons, his numbers have steadily declined. Last season was the least-efficient of the 26-year-old’s career, as he posted a PER of just 13.99. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Oladipo’s numbers continue to rise, he posted a career-best PER of 16.77.

The most important part of this deal for the Thunder is the addition of Oladipo’s defense on the perimeter. The Indiana product can be a lock-down defender and if the Thunder want to win a championship they needed to improve their perimeter defense to get by the Warriors.

Ibaka helped erase a lot of mistakes defensively with his athleticism and shot-blocking ability, but like the rest of his game those traits have declined in his mid-20s. He blocked just 1.9 shots per game last season, his lowest average since the 2009-10 season.

With Oladipo and Russell Westbrook now locked in on the perimeter, the Thunder could finally have a defensive answer to Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. This was clearly a move centered around finding a way to beat the Warriors and get out of the Western Conference. The Thunder took Golden State to the brink this season, going to seven games before bowing out. After taking a 3-1 series lead, Oklahoma City couldn’t figure out how to slow down Curry and Thompson.

If Kevin Durant decides to return to Oklahoma City, head coach Billy Donovan will have decisions to make as far as his starting lineup goes. Steven Adams has established himself as the team’s primary post player, making Ibaka expendable. Donovan could now opt to go with Andre Roberson and Durant at the nominal “forward” spots, with Westbrook and Oladipo in the backcourt. That would be a defense-first lineup that would also boast enough scoring potential.

While Ibaka has been declining, Oladipo has continued to develop into an excellent young guard. The No. 2 pick from the 2013 NBA Draft posted his best overall season in 2015-16. He posted career-best marks in true shooting percentage (53.4), rebounding rate (8.0), turnover rate (12.4), offensive win shares (2.2), total win shares (4.9) and value over replacement player (2.3). And he’s only going to get better.

With the addition of Oladipo and subtraction of Ibaka, the Thunder are clearly embracing the concept of small-ball. General manager Sam Presti recognized the league-wide trend and was able to pull off a whale of a trade in order to keep up.

If Durant returns to Oklahoma City, the Warriors should be seriously concerned about the Thunder. On paper they just got a heck of a lot better, and that improvement was aimed squarely at topping Golden State.