Recent rumors have emerged that Orlando Magic power forward Serge Ibaka could reunite with former teammate James Harden with the Houston Rockets before this season's trade deadline in February.

Orlando is struggling to find their form this season despite the addition of several players during the summer. The Magic are currently fourth from the last place in the Eastern Conference with an 11-16 record and they might continue to descend in the standings if the roster is not re-tooled in midseason.

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With that, the team is reportedly seeking a go-to scorer who the team can rely on during clutch situations and Ibaka, Nikola Vucevic, and Elfrid Payton could be used as trade assets to achieve the club's goals, according to latest reports.

Fansided indicated that the "Serge Ibaka experiment hasn't worked as well as the Orlando Magic hoped" and the 27-year-old Congolese-Spanish big man could be traded before the deadline.

Ibaka, who was traded by OKC to the Magic in June for Victor Oladipo, Ersan İlyasova and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis, is in the final year of his four-year, $49.4 million deal with the Thunder, which will make him an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Orlando's current struggles and Ibaka's impending free-agency are two of the main factors which could lead to him being dealt soon.

One trade rumor that has been circulating online these days is a possible deal by the Magic and Rockets with Ibaka as the centerpiece.

HNGN reported that Houston could be targeting Ibaka should he become available in midseason as the Rockets are trying to "toughen up their defense".

After losing Dwight Howard to the Atlanta Hawks in the recent free-agency, the Rockets have become one of the worst teams when it comes to interior defense this season. Getting Ibaka, therefore, is the first step towards the improvement of their rim protection.

The report suggested that the Magic could ask for Trevor Ariza or Eric Gordon in exchange for Ibaka. Both Ariza and Gordon are scorers, but they are role players and not the go-to-guy that the Magic is looking for at the moment.

TagsNBA Trade Rumors, NBA Trade Rumors 2016, Serge Ibaka, orlando magic, houston rockets