NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 potential destinations for Serge Ibaka
By John Buhler
Toronto Raptors power forward Serge Ibaka will be one of the biggest namesto hit free agency this summer. Here are his five best fits.
To win in the NBA Playoffs, it is paramount to have great rim protection defensively and the ability to space the floor with 3-point shooting offensively. Most of the time, those two attributes do not come in the same player. General managers will need to acquire at least two players to fix both theoretical holes on their basketball team. However, there just aren’t that many players like Serge Ibaka in the NBA today.
Ibaka is an eight-year NBA veteran that is best known for his elite rim protection skills and his ability to stretch the defense with his 3-point shooting as a power forward. He had spent his first seven years in the NBA with the team that drafted him — the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ibaka split 2016-17 between the Orlando Magic and the Toronto Raptors.
Though he has never made an All-Star team, Ibaka is a highly valuable player because of his defensive prowess. Three times has he been on an All-Defensive team in the NBA. He is coming off a year where he averaged 14.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest in 79 games. Ibaka shot 48.0 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from distance and averaged 1.6 blocked shots per game.
While he won’t be one of marquee signings of 2017 NBA free agency, the team that ends up signing Ibaka should be very much in the mix to win multiple playoff series next spring. Here are the five clubs that would have high interest in signing Ibaka in unrestricted free agency.
Miami Heat
East, Southeast
With veteran power forward Chris Bosh expected to be coming off the books this summer in some variation of an amnesty clause, we should expect the Miami Heat to be big spenders in 2017 NBA free agency. Parting ways with Bosh this summer will not only signify the complete dissolution of the Big Three era in South Beach, but will allow Miami to get out from over $50 million of guaranteed money for the next two years.
Miami has not made the playoffs in two of the last three years, coinciding with LeBron James’ return to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Face of the franchise in shooting guard Dwyane Wade skipped town to play for his hometown team in the Chicago Bulls last summer. While team president Pat Riley was frugal with Wade, he knew that Wade was rapidly decaying before his eyes after 13 years with the Heat organization.
In short, Miami will have an honest chance at a reload this summer. The Heat already have several strong players — center Hassan Whiteside, point guard Goran Dragic, shooting guard Tyler Johnson, and small forward Justise Winslow. Obviously, Miami will do everything in its power to court spark plug two-guard Dion Waiters for a new contract in his unrestricted free agency.
Re-signing Waiters makes sense, but we can’t believe that Miami will be fine with just that one high-profile move. Adding Ibaka into the Heat frontcourt could be something that could get Miami back into the playoffs in 2018. He has the ability to play alongside Whiteside on both ends of the floor. Ibaka can space the floor like Bosh did for years with Miami in terms of jump-shooting.
Essentially, Miami would be getting a younger, slightly less expensive version of a rapidly decaying Bosh in the form of Ibaka.