According to an anonymous source, the Toronto Raptors have been fielding calls all week in regards to Serge Ibaka's availability. Toronto is coming off a fantastic season as they finished 50-32 on the regular season and even made it to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals before being knocked out of the CSL Playoffs. One of the biggest factors to that success was the play of F Serge Ibaka who averaged 13.9PPG - 6.9RPG - 2.5BPG and still has one more year on his deal before becoming a free-agent next off-season. The impending availability doesn't seem to be a factor for interested teams around the CSL though as we caught up to a Raptor employee who shared a word with us.
It's been hectic since we've gotten eliminated. Serge (Ibaka) is a great player so I'm not surprised he's receiving a lot of interest, however I wasn't anticipating the level of interest that he had reached. If I had to put a number on how many teams have contacted us about acquiring him, I'd say...roughly eight.
We love the kid and wouldn't say we are trying to trade him by any means, but it is a business and he's mature enough to know that. We'll sit down and look at all offers and try narrowing it down a bit to see which ones stand out. Were open to discussion.
Year 1: 47-35 [[Washington Wizards]] Year 2: 45-37 [[Washington Wizards]] Year 3: Fired [[Portland Trailblazers]]
The two teams in the Finals this year have elite interior defenders. Ibaka is one of the few players who can also provide that same defensive presence. I wouldn't personally trade him, foul troubles acknowledged. He should garner a hefty package.
Jaboo wrote:I like him, but whoever acquires him needs to be prepared to give him the max next year and im just not sure if hes worth that.
Hell yeah completely forgot about that. He'll be a UFA and demand the max.
Yeah - I like Ibaka a lot, but he's one of those borderline "Is he really a max player type?" guys. I mean, people criticized signing DeAndre to a max, but I'd rather have Deandre at max than Ibaka.
