Milwaukee Bucks acquire Serge Ibaka, trade Donte DiVincenzo and others in deadline move
PHOENIX – A year ago the Milwaukee Bucks brought in a veteran, defensive-minded presence to bolster their chances at claiming their first championship in five decades.
On Thursday they made a similar move to push their chips in on defending that title, making a four-team trade that sent Donte DiVincenzo to Sacramento and brought them 32-year-old Serge Ibaka from the Los Angeles Clippers before Thursday’s 2 p.m. trade deadline.
The Journal Sentinel confirmed the trades first reported by The Athletic and ESPN. The Bucks also received two future second-round draft picks and cash and sent Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood to the Clippers.
Ibaka is only under contract through this season.
"We're excited what Greg (Monroe) has done with us since he arrived and obviously Serge Ibaka has a very, very impressive résumé and has played at a high, high level," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said. "He's just a great player, played on a lot of great teams. We feel like he's going to really help us in a lot of different ways."
The second-round picks the Bucks acquired are a 2023 selection from Detroit (the lesser of picks via Golden State and Cleveland) and a 2024 selection from Sacramento (via Portland). The Clippers also sent the Bucks cash.
The Detroit Free Press confirmed the Pistons acquired Marvin Bagley Jr. from the Kings and sent Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson to the Kings.
By moving three rostered players and bringing back just one and cash, the Bucks now are expected to be players in the free-agent buyout market after the trade deadline.
A league source said the move of acquiring Ibaka was entirely separate from any progress center Brook Lopez is making on a return.
PODCAST: Milwaukee trades for Serge Ibaka in deal that sends Donte DiVincenzo to Kings
For the Bucks, the acquisition of Ibaka gives them another versatile, big defender – and respectable offensive threat – as they look ahead to potential Eastern Conference playoff matchups.
The 6-foot-10 Ibaka had just played the Bucks on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena and displayed his value in not just scoring seven points, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking a shot in 18 minutes, but by taking two shoulder bumps from Giannis Antetokounmpo in the low post and not moving anywhere.
And, of course, the Bucks are familiar with what Ibaka was able to do against them in the 2018-19 Eastern Conference finals, when he helped the Toronto Raptors “wall” off Antetokounmpo en route to an NBA title.
"We're so excited to add Serge to our team. We feel like it just continues to make us more and more versatile," Budenholzer said. "Because of Giannis' versatility we can do so many different things with our bigs. I think Serge is versatile, Serge's ability to move his feet and protect the rim and do different things and bring physicality along with Brook and Bobby (Portis). We just feel like we have a lot of different directions we can go, lot of different guys we can play. So we're excited. Very excited about it."
Ibaka's stats this season and in his career feature impressive shot block numbers
In Ibaka’s 13-year NBA career, he is a three-time all-defensive team member and two-time blocks champion, attributes that fit perfectly for Milwaukee.
Ibaka has played 35 games this season for the Clippers, averaging 6.6 points and 4.3 rebounds. In his career with Oklahoma City, Toronto and the Clippers he has averaged 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks.
He also has shot 51% overall and 36% from behind the three-point line for his career.
"We look forward to getting him here," Budenholzer. "We don't have a game after (Thursday) for three or four days so that gives us a little bit of time to get him to Milwaukee, get him familiar with the system. I'm sure we'll throw him right into action immediately. That's the best way for him to learn and grow and get comfortable with us."
Ibaka has played in 146 playoff games (102 starts). Aside from winning a title with the Raptors, he played in the NBA Finals with the Thunder in 2011-12 and a Western Conference finals with them in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
Donte DiVincenzo is traded to the Sacramento Kings
DiVincenzo was long-rumored as a trade target once he and the team did not agree on a rookie extension this summer. The 25-year-old guard emerged as a starter on last season's championship team before tearing an ankle ligament in the first-round series against the Miami Heat.
His return this season was delayed by a stint in the health and safety protocol and then spraining that ankle. DiVincenzo played 17 games off the bench, averaging 7.2 points in about 20 minutes per game.
A first-round pick out of Villanova in 2018, DiVincenzo averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 176 career games with the Bucks.
"Just great respect and just really, really strong feelings about Donte the player, Donte the human," Budenholzer said. "There's a reason we drafted him. He brings a lot to the table. His competitiveness to me is just always what stood out. He knows how to win. He makes winning plays. We're going to have to replace that, replace that toughness, the rebounding from the guard spot, playmaking. He's a great player, he's a great person. Teammates love him, coaches love him.
"That's the hard part. Anytime you trade you're excited about what you're adding, but if you're getting a good player you're obviously losing a good player, too. Hopefully we can find ways to replace what Donte brings."
This is second time the Kings made a move to to acquire DiVincenzo.
At the start of the 2021-22 season the Bucks had agreed to send DiVincenzo to the Kings as part of a sign-and-trade deal to acquire Bogdan Bogdanović.
But the deal was called off and the Bucks were determined to have been guilty of "gun jumping" in free-agent negotiations with Bogdanović or someone in his camp. DiVincenzo stayed in Milwaukee and blossomed into a starter, the Bucks were docked a 2022 second-round pick as a penalty and Bogdanović signed in Atlanta.
Ojeleye and Hood were veteran signings this offseason and did not provide the boost off the bench as expected. Ojeleye dealt with multiple calf injuries and had a stint in the league's health and safety protocol and has played in just 20 games.
Hood never found his shooting touch in 39 games, making just 30% of his threes in about 15 minutes per game.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks acquire Serge Ibaka, trade DiVincenzo, Hood, Semi
