LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 05: Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)
Is free agent big man Serge Ibaka about to join the Nets?
Kevin Durant is already hard at work trying to convince some of the game’s best free agents to pair up with himself and Kyrie Irving on the championship-chasing Brooklyn Nets. Given former Toronto Raptors stud Serge Ibaka’s familiarity with Durant, many have linked the veteran shot-blocker with the Nets as a high-end backup to DeAndre Jordan.
Ibaka might be closer to signing in Brooklyn than we think, however, as Durant’s brother seems to think Ibaka wearing black and white is a done deal.
After Ibaka posted a picture of himself on a plane, kickstarting all sorts of rumors about his preferred free agency destination, Durant’s brother Tony claimed in the comments that Ibaka is on his way to join the Nets. Does he know something no one else does?
Serge Ibaka, a solid post scorer and shot-blocker, played with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City
Ibaka got his start as a role player on Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder teams, leading the league in blocks in consecutive seasons. He has since expanded his game, however, becoming a respectable 3-point shooter and post scorer. Ibaka averaged a career-high 15.4 points per game last season.
The Ibaka rumors are picking up steam, in part, due to the looming James Harden hypothetical trade. If Harden was to end up a Net when it’s all said and done, Brooklyn will have likely parted ways with promising young center Jarrett Allen, making an already thin frontcourt even thinner. Ibaka could give them an ideal veteran presence that Steve Nash can trust to run the second unit.
Any contending team that has a lack of frontcourt depth will chase Ibaka hard, but playing alongside Durant and Kyrie in Brooklyn might be too good for Ibaka to pass up.