With all due respect to Mason Plumlee and Jusuf Nurkic, the Serge Ibaka trade announced on Tuesday was the first major transaction ahead of next week’s deadline. And boy, it might be a doozy. The Raptors had to part ways with a serviceable and productive swing-man in Terrence Ross, but what they got in return has the potential to significantly transform the Eastern Conference landscape this season and beyond.
After a nearly two-year stranglehold on the East’s No. 2 seed, Toronto has slipped all the way to fifth recently as other up-and-coming teams – namely the Celtics, Wizards, and somewhat shockingly the Hawks – have emerged as viable threats, not just to the Raptors but to the suddenly-reeling Cavs as well. Toronto has lost two in a row and have won just four of their last 10.
Despite their emergence in the East, there’s been a palpable sense that the Raptors are still one or two moves away from legitimately being able to challenge the Cavs. Beyond their two-headed hydra of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, it’s a roster primarily filled with role players and tertiary stars.
With Ibaka, they couldn’t have asked for a better fit. They’ve been in desperate need of a versatile big man who can stretch the floor, defend multiple positions, and protect the rim. Ibaka can also easily play alongside Jonas Valanciunas and slide over to center when Toronto wants to go small, and he’s precisely the defender they need to match up against other stud front-court players like Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Marcin Gortat, and Kevin Love.
Speaking of Love, Tuesday’s news that the Cavs’ All-Star forward will miss at least six weeks after undergoing left-knee surgery could create the perfect storm for someone other than Cleveland to take the No. 1 spot in the East and thus secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Cavs were just beginning to get back on track after sputtering their way through much of January and early February, incurring bad losses to sub-par opponents, not to mention LeBron James’ highly-publicized beef with team brass over acquiring more play-makers.
LeBron has been stomping his feet for a backup point guard for some time, but with Love likely out until late March or early April, the Cavs have a more pressing need to fill the hole at the four spot, at least temporarily. They recently signed former No. 2 pick Derrick Williams to a 10-day contract, and the organization faces a tough decision as to whether they want to ride it out until Love returns or try and swing a deal before the trade deadline.
James made it excruciatingly clear that he wants another play-maker on the squad, and Williams is emphatically not that guy, so look for the Cavs to be very active in the next week. Regardless of how things pan out before the deadline, the Cavs are in a bind. Needless to say the All-Star break couldn’t come at a better time, with LeBron still logging way too many minutes and basically refusing to sit.
The streaking Celtics have won nine of their last 10 and are just two games behind in the standings. The Wizards, likewise, have catapulted to the No. 3 spot behind their recent hot streak, and their simmering rivalry with Boston should make for entertaining theater in the second-half of the season as they each vie for the top seed.
But the Raptors, with Ibaka in tow, are still very much in the mix. Though they’d obviously prefer not to face the Cavs until the conference finals, Love’s injury adds a potentially interesting variable to the equation. If the Raptors hypothetically remain in their holding pattern while the Cavs slide to, say, the No. 3 spot, they could ostensibly meet in a somewhat favorable first-round series if Cleveland is not yet back to full strength as Love and Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith all work their way back into the rotation.
But that’s admittedly a lot of what ifs. The key for Raptors will be to successfully integrate Ibaka into the lineup and use the second-half of the season to establish some chemistry and make a late push before the playoffs start. He’s a proven talent capable of making a significant impact on this team, and his addition just made the already-chaotic East that much more interesting.
