The Spanish Congolese power forward Serge Ibaka, who is in the free agent market, you have everything ready for accept a two-year, $ 19 million deal offered by the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to several sources close to the negotiations, lTalks are advanced and the final agreement could be announced before the end of the weekend.
The offer of Clippers to Ibaka means the Los Angeles team will use their full mid-level exception to complete the signing and the player will also have an option for the second year.
Reinforcement for the Clippers
The deal represents a major boost for the Clippers, who lost power forward Montrezl Harrell to signing as a free agent with the Lakers and the Center JaMychal Green also left with the Denver Nuggets.
Ibaka, who can play either four or five, toHelp restore depth to the Clippers’ tall men they lost with the departure of Harrell and Green.
The Clippers get a tall man who can shoot from outside the perimeter and also play great defense when it comes to protecting the rim.
They want an escort
The team Angelino will remain in the market in search of an escort to make plays and another great man, who could be the Spanish center Marc Gasol, Ibaka’s partner with the Raptors during the last season and a half of competition.
However, the team is likely to be limited to minimum wage offers or perhaps a portion of the biennial exception. The 31-year-old Ibaka’s career renaissance for the Toronto Raptors continued through last season.
The player he averaged a career-high 15.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, the second most in a season in his career and the best since the 2013-14 championship, when he scored 8.8 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Stopper in Oklahoma
Ibaka started strengthen his career as an elite shot blocker with the Thunder, while supporting forward Kevin Durant’s work with his defensive game, guard Russell Westbrook and guard James Harden.
Then he had a brief stint with the Orlando Magic and was traded to the Raptors midway through the 2016-17 season. The Spanish international player signed a three-season contract and $ 64 million and he stayed with Toronto the following offseason.
Ibaka lived up to that price when helped the Raptors win the franchise’s first NBA championship, two seasons ago.
Effort for Ibaka
It was believed that the Raptors, one of many teams that made an effort to sign Ibaka, they were reluctant to offer multi-year money, as it would compromise their salary space projected for summer 2021.
But nevertheless, if they were able to offer you at least $ 15 million for the 2020-21 season, So it is surprising that Ibaka kept the salary of the average level of exception.
The Raptors, having lost Ibaka, they are left without one of the important tall men that he had within the squad along with the Spanish pivot Marc Gasol, who is also in the free agent market and involved in all kinds of rumors from the teams that are interested, including the Clippers, the Lakers and now again the Toronto franchise itself.
Ibaka’s departure from the Raptors have made Toronto team managers go back to work to convince Gasol to sign a new contract with the club
