2019/20 Players' Transactions: Breaking News , Trades, Free Agents, And Rumors

Serge Ibaka is my #1 target this summer. I don't know what it would take to even bend his ear, but I'm for it.

Rim protector: check. 8th in the league in blocks and tied for 13th in block percentage with DeAndre Jordan.
Can stretch the floor: check. There are 12 F/Cs in the league that have taken 100 3s and Serge is ranked 5th in percentage with 37.8%. The only PF/C to take and make more threes than Ibaka is Porzingis. Frye, Gasol, and Speights have all taken less threes even though they make them at a higher percentage.

Ibaka's max is going to be 30% of the cap or roughly 28-29 million dollars. He's an 8 year pro so he might be inclined to take an offer of 2+1 (PO) at the max (or the max someone will pay him) in order to opt out again and get the 10 year max at that point.

I have the Lakers pegged at roughly 82.83 million in salary next summer barring any changes. That includes cap holds (including Nick's), no Marcelo, and a fully guaranteed Tarik Black. It includes a larger cap hold for Thomas Robinson as well.

With the Cap set at around 103 million, we're not going to have the cash to go after Serge if he expects a max contract. If he's willing to go for less though, then I'm making that call. It's not like Orlando is some bastion of good basketball or even a great culture.

 

I agree. Ibaka would be a huge acquisition for us, but I hope we don't need to rely on a rim protector, and players just communicate better and make better decisions on defense. But its always better to have that rim protector than not.

Concerning Nick and Lou, I want Nick back if I have to choose primarily because of his defense. Really, I want both of them back if we could manage it without breaking the bank. It's really nice to have a few scorers on the team when you just need buckets, and sucks without them. Ask a team like Miami.

 

Rude. And I don't think any of those guys suck, they're just not great. I was desperate for help for a team that needed it and it showed in my thinking. This is a different mindset.

Also... rude.

 

Deng doesn't suck. He had a bad start to the season. He was 10-6-2 in December on 46-35-63 shooting. And he's 9-7-3 this month - in just 30 minutes.

Biyombo doesn't suck. He's at 6-8-1 and 1.4 blocks, with career bests in points, assists, and just short of one in rebounds. Plus he's shooting 51% from the floor. His DRPM is the best of his career.

Even Dragic is at 19-7-4 on 46% FGs, 41% threes.

I think Real was critical of Festus (or maybe that was Abeer) given his knees - which was a concern I think we all had.

We have to be clear about what we expect from a player when we sign them. Deng started out awfully, but over the past month and a half, he's essentially the player I thought we were getting. Biyombo is exactly what I thought teams would be getting. Dragic is actually better than I thought he would be (I wasn't a fan), and Ezeli is exactly the injury risk you'd have to take a chance on if you wanted to sign him.

 

The best thing about a rim protector is that you don't always need 'em, but they're there when you do.

 

I know.

I deserve some skepticism. I've made some bad calls, but I think Ibaka makes a lot of sense for us.

 

Realistically too much I think. We'd have to find a way to dump Mozgov probably.

 

I thought what they gave up was a mistake and we've both talked about how awful the Magic have been managed the few years.

To look at things from a different perspective though: Ibaka is starting now over Vucevic who has been the Magic starter for years. In fact Vucevic was their best player last year and their go-to scorer. Ibaka is starting over their long-term investment in Gordon. He's clearly a player they value.

Oklahoma is another organization that's made a lot of mistakes. For one, extending Ibaka over Harden which is a strawman argument. They could have easily kept both if they'd used the amnesty clause on Perkins when they had to. Instead they kept Perkins for a year, traded away Harden, and then traded Ibaka before he could ask for money. That is an organization that is about the bottom dollar, not about winning. Now when they had to spend money they put a ton of money in Oladipo and Adams, neither of whom I'm convinced is a star.

What you've convinced me of is that Ibaka is not worth a max contract, not that he's not worth our money.

 

I like hearing we were interested in Noel. I'm not sure what he is, but I'd like to find out. Is he a better Tarik or Thomas Robinson? Because that'd be dandy.

 

I don't think he's better than Tarik Black and Thomas Robinson at this stage of their careers. Plus I don't have to worry about them missing practice/showing up late and complaining about minutes.

DO NOT WANT Noel.

 

I think he's better than Black by a fair bit. His defensive numbers are off the charts, and he's every bit as good as Black on O. Just not the rebounder Black is.