NBA News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Photo credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Drafting Jalen Williams: Why We Should Thank Serge Ibaka

Originally posted on Last Word On Sports
By Paul Daniel Flores | Last updated Apr 25, 2025 8:37 PM ET

Oklahoma City boasts a fanbase of loud and loyal fans spoiled with playoff success. As the years went by, different players left their mark on the team’s identity, forging legacies at the time. One of their past greats, Thunder legend Serge Ibaka helped in drafting current Thunder great Jalen Williams.

Drafting Jalen Williams: Why Should We Thank Serge Ibaka

The Lasting Impact of Serge Ibaka

Serge Ibaka is one of the key players who played a huge role in helping Oklahoma City grind through the depths of the NBA before ascending as a power in the West. The Thunder (then as the Seattle SuperSonics) took a risk in drafting him in 2008, but it eventually paid off in the long run. The Congolese forward impressed in his rookie year, playing 73 games while averaging 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game.

Ibaka would go on to anchor the Thunder’s defense in its sustained playoff runs. OKC reached the playoffs in six out of seven straight seasons, spanning from 2010 to 2016. He did not win a title with OKC, but his 2019 run with the Toronto Raptors would result in a championship.

A kid from Congo, becoming an NBA Champion is sureal. I was not supposed to be here but I never lost faith. This is a dream come true but also an opportunity for me to remind every kid in Congo, in Africa and everywhere that anything is possible. Thank you Toronto and Canada pic.twitter.com/vigq4XMPrE

— Serge Ibaka (@sergeibaka) June 14, 2019

Ibaka played the next three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks after his Raptors stint. He was then traded to the Indiana Pacers in 2023, part of a four-team trade, but was waived two days later.

Playing for the Thunder in 524 games in his career, Ibaka’s season averages with OKC stands at 11.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. OKC fans can also be happy knowing that he is the key to eventually drafting Jalen Williams.

Drafting Jalen Williams

To trace back how Serge Ibaka led to drafting Jalen Williams, we would go back to 2007 when the Seattle SuperSonics traded Rashard Lewis. The forward earned the Sonics a second round pick that year, as well as a $9 million trade exception. It would then turn out to be Kurt Thomas, along with the Phoenix Suns’ 2008 and 2010 first rounders.

That 2008 first round pick then turned out to be Ibaka at 24th overall. Flash forward to eight years later, OKC sends Ibaka to the Orlando Magic in 2016, bringing in Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the 11th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, Domantas Sabonis. Just a year later, OKC then trades Oladipo and Sabonis for Paul George.

Those big years with George ended abruptly, and so GM Sam Presti fully kicked off the rebuild for OKC. Presti wraps Paul George in a package to the Clippers, but brings in a haul that contained Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari. That was not the highlight of the deal, as it also included five first-rounders, and two pick swaps.

With Paul George officially leaving the Clippers.

This will now go down as the worst trade in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/YZP4seb3VW

— Lakers Vino (@VinoUncorked) July 1, 2024

Eventually, one of those picks would turn up as a valuable asset for OKC in 2022. Sam Presti first landed Chet Holmgren with the second overall pick, then used the Clippers pick in drafting Jalen Williams. That’s also the origin of Jdub’s X username, @jdubwttp – “with the twelfth pick”.

From One Thunder to Another

Williams can bring the same energy that Ibaka brought to the floor. Sure, Chet Holmgren is having his big moments, and SGA is showing himself as the modern MVP, but there’s something special about Williams. Seeing him as a by-product of Ibaka all along, the act of drafting Jalen Williams shows how this OKC squad has synced with its roots.