When the Thunder traded Jeff Green, it acquired Serge Ibaka

Durant told his big man that Jeff Green had just been traded. Ibaka, like the rest of his teammates, never saw it coming.

“When the trades were talked about on TV, they never talked about Oklahoma,” Ibaka remembered of Feb. 24, trade-deadline day. “So we didn't know nothing.”

But unlike everyone else capable of forming an opinion, Ibaka had doubts about the deal. Durant had informed Ibaka that he was the new starting power forward. The two-time All-Star told the second-year role player he now needed to step up.

“I was like, ‘Whoa,'” Ibaka said, animated as if it happened yesterday.

For a moment, Ibaka wondered if he was good enough. He spent the next few minutes racing through the possibilities. He couldn't help but contemplate what if something went wrong.

“I was thinking, ‘Now I'm a starter, and if the team (starts) to lose the media will start to talk,'” Ibaka said.

In Ibaka's mind, the Thunder had just rolled the dice.

In reality, the Thunder traded away Green and acquired Ibaka. Oklahoma City shipped out a serviceable 4-man before finally saying hello to the stud who was being stymied on the bench.

Since the Thunder dealt Green along with Nenad Krstic and a future first-round pick to Boston in exchange for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson, it's been Perkins who has garnered most of the press. The 6-10 center came over from the Celtics and immediately was lauded as the interior presence the Thunder had longed for.

Few figured Ibaka would have the impact he's had. When it came to the second-year man from Congo, most wondered how the Thunder would replace Green's offense with Ibaka in the lineup.

But as the full-time starter for the final 26 games, Ibaka averaged 11 points, a mere 4.2 fewer than Green averaged in his 49 games as the team's starting power forward. Ibaka's 51 percent shooting from the field, however, dwarfed Green's 43.7-percent clip. And what Ibaka couldn't replace — Green's 3-point shooting — he made up in other areas.

Can you say defense?

With Green undersized and outmatched almost nightly, opposing power forwards routinely ran through the Thunder. Ibaka's length and athleticism has put a stop to that. Ibaka's rebounding average went from 7.1 per game to 8.5 per game. His blocks shot up from 2.05 to 3.19 per game.

At just 21, Ibaka finished the season as the league leader in total blocked shots with 198. Only four players in NBA history have recorded more blocks in a single season at 21 or younger: Tim Duncan, Benoit Benjamin, Josh Smith and Shaquille O'Neal. Only Benjamin, Smith and O'Neal were younger than Ibaka.