Serge Ibaka Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Ibaka, Hornets, McRoberts

September 28th, 2016 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

Serge Ibaka opened camp with the Magic this week by expressing a desire to remain with the franchise for the long term, but as Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel writes, those comments don’t mean much unless Ibaka is repeating them next July. In Schmitz’s view, it will require a Magic playoff berth – or something very close to it – for Ibaka to maintain interest in re-upping with the team when his contract expires next summer. In that scenario, the Magic would have room to re-sign Ibaka and land another noteworthy free agent, but it will depend on how the team’s season plays out.

Here’s more from around the Southeast division:

The Hornets made a handful of free agent signings this summer, but one of their most important additions is being called a “de facto” free agent signing by head coach Steve Clifford. As Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer writes, Clifford feels that getting a healthy Michael Kidd-Gilchrist back for the 2016/17 campaign will be like adding a new player for the Hornets. The former No. 2 overall pick played just seven games last year due to shoulder problems.
In a separate piece for The Observer, Bonnell examines Christian Wood‘s role in Charlotte, noting that the young power forward will likely spend a good chunk of the year with the Greensboro Swarm, the Hornets’ D-League affiliate.
Josh McRoberts revealed today that he broke his foot during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in May, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter link). Before McRoberts made that announcement, Winderman had examined the potential role this season for the Heat forward, who is limited in camp as his foot continues to recover.

Serge Ibaka Hoping For Long-Term Stay With Magic

September 27th, 2016 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

When the Magic traded for Serge Ibaka on draft night earlier this summer, it was clear the team hoped to have in the mix beyond July 2017, when his contract expires. General manager Rob Hennigan confirmed as much at the team’s media day on Monday, telling reporters – including Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel – “we certainly traded for Serge thinking long-term, and that’s our expectation.” As Robbins writes, Magic officials believe Ibaka will like playing for Frank Vogel and having a larger role in Orlando than he had in Oklahoma City.

While things could change between now and next summer, it sounds for now like Ibaka is on the same page as the Magic. During his own media day interview, the veteran big man expressed a desire to make his stay in Orlando a long-term one.

“I’m looking to stay here to play forever,” Ibaka said. “For [as] many, many years as possible.”

Ibaka went on to add that he’s not too concerned about his contract situation for now, and it’s certainly not uncommon for a player to express a desire to stay with his current team before eventually departing in free agency. However, Ibaka has been enthusiastic about the move since it happened, writing last month in a piece for The Cauldron that he was “thrilled” to be in Orlando.

With Bismack Biyombo and Nikola Vucevic also expected to receive significant playing time up front, there may be some growing pains in Orlando to start the season, as the club determines the best way to maximize its talent. Still, the Magic will be able to offer Ibaka more years and more dollars in free agency next summer than any other team, and if they’re willing to do that, there’s no reason they shouldn’t enter the 2017 offseason as the strong favorites to retain the 27-year-old.

Of course, Ibaka technically could be extended before he reaches free agency, but the Magic don’t have any cap room, so the team wouldn’t be able to give him a significant raise over his current $12.25MM salary, making an in-season deal extremely unlikely.

Magic GM Talks Expectations, Offseason Moves

September 23rd, 2016 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

It was an eventful offseason for the Magic, who traded former second overall pick Victor Oladipo and the No. 11 selection in this year’s draft in a deal for Serge Ibaka, then landed Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, and D.J. Augustin in free agency, while signing Evan Fournier to a lucrative new extension.

Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel sat down with Magic general manager Rob Hennigan to discuss the team’s offseason moves, expectations for the coming season, and a handful of other topics. The whole conversation is worth reading, particularly for Magic fans, but here are a few of Hennigan’s comments from the discussion:

On expectations for the Magic in 2016/17:

“I think first and foremost our expectation is that we’ll cement an identity for ourselves as a smart, physical, unselfish, defensive-minded team. And we expect to make the playoffs. … I prefer not to [predict a win total] just because I’m not sure how relevant that is. What’s important is getting into the playoffs.”

On whether there will be enough minutes to go around for Ibaka, Biyombo, and Nikola Vucevic:

“We think there are, and we think that’s going to sort itself out with our team’s play and their individual play. What’s important to us is making sure that we’re winning games and that our collective mindset is just that. We don’t see that as a threat. If anything, we see that as a strength.”

On whether the Magic have enough shooting:

“You can never have enough shooting, right? But we’re confident we’ll be a better shooting team this season. I think we’ve improved our perimeter shooting and our ability to make shots from distance since last season both with the additions we made in D.J. Augustin and Jodie Meeks and C.J. Wilcox and Serge Ibaka and also the internal shooting development of Elfrid [Payton] and Mario [Hezonja] and Aaron [Gordon] and Evan and Nik. So we feel like we’ve improved in that area, and we’ll continue to look to improve in that area. But we certainly don’t see it as much of a weakness heading into the year.”

On the Ibaka trade:

“I’ve always talked about being opportunistic and I think that trade was emblematic of an opportunity we felt was available to us to accelerate the progress of the team. Again, we’re always going to do what we feel is in the best interests of the organization. We’re trying to win. We’re also trying to make sure we can continue to build in a fashion that will allow us to be competitive for a long time. All of that has fallen under the umbrella of seeking out opportunities and making sure that we’re responsible in whatever decisions we make.”

On adding depth throughout the roster this offseason:

“We made it a priority this summer to ensure that we have competition at all positions across the board. That will be the first time we’ve had that since this rebuilding began. We see that as a healthy dynamic and as something that will make all of our players better. I think if you ask the players, that’s how they want it to be: really having a competitive daily situation to earn minutes.”

Southeast Notes: Wall, Bosh, Hornets, Ibaka

September 14th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards aren’t going to push John Wall to be ready for opening night, writes Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com. The 26-year-old point guard had surgical procedures on both knees during the offseason, and the team is being careful with his recovery. “We’re in no rush,” said new Washington head coach Scott Brooks. “We want to make sure that he’s ready. It’s a process. We still have all of training camp. We’ll see. We’re going to keep working, keep pushing him. The one thing about John. He puts the work in.” Wall has started playing one-on-one, but he still has to make progress before he can handle training camp drills or five-on-five games.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

Chris Bosh may be planning to join the Heat in training camp, but veteran teammate Udonis Haslem cautions everyone to be realistic in their expectations, relays Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Bosh has had his last two seasons cut short by blood clots and he hasn’t played competitively since the All-Star break. “Chris’ timetable is just a little bit different than everybody else’s,” Haslem said. “So we have to be mindful. We have to be conscious of the things that are important. And the thing that is most important is that when Chris needs to be ready, that he’s ready.”
Hornets coach Steve Clifford believes the team’s offseason moves have improved the defense more than the offense, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Charlottte lost three key free agents in Jeremy Lin, Al Jefferson and Courtney Lee, but brought in Roy Hibbert, Ramon Sessions and Marco Belinelli. Also, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is expected back after missing nearly all of last season with injuries.
Serge Ibaka may help bring a winning culture to the Magic, writes Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders in a preseason look at Orlando. Ibaka, who was acquired from the Thunder in a June deal involving Victor Oladipo, was part of a very successful team in Oklahoma City and will give the Magic the rim protector they have needed since they lost Dwight Howard. However, many of the Basketball Insiders writers were confused by Orlando’s offseason moves and are concerned that they don’t have enough scorers to be a contender.

Thunder Notes: Griffin, Mohammed, McGary

September 1st, 2016 at 9:01am CST by Luke Adams

With Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical having suggested on multiple occasions this offseason that the Thunder are looking ahead and identifying Blake Griffin as a potential free agent target in the summer of 2017, it came as no surprise that Griffin was on the receiving end of a subtle – and humorous – recruiting pitch during a recent event at the University of Oklahoma.

As relayed by Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk, Griffin tactfully blew off the mention of the Thunder at the alumni event, but it certainly won’t be the last time someone broaches the idea of a homecoming for the Oklahoma native. For what it’s worth, the Clippers reportedly remain very confident that Griffin will remain in Los Angeles for the long term.

Here’s more on the Thunder:

In order to complete this week’s acquisition of Joffrey Lauvergne, the Thunder renounced their free agent rights to Nazr Mohammed, according to RealGM’s transactions log. The move comes as no surprise, since even after removing Mohammed from their cap, the Thunder were just barely able to squeeze in Lauvergne’s salary, with about $29K in cap room to spare. Mohammed, an 18-year NBA veteran, isn’t expected to continue his playing career.
Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman offers a couple reasons why the Thunder might have traded for Lauvergne despite already having plenty of frontcourt depth. As Tramel writes, Oklahoma City may not be counting on Mitch McGary, who took a leave of absence last season and has been suspended for five games due to a drug violation. Tramel also wonders if Enes Kanter might be on the trade block.
In a piece for the Players’ Tribune, Serge Ibaka writes about his journey to the NBA and what he learned during his years with the Thunder. Ibaka wrote in a separate piece earlier this week that he “never asked” to be traded by OKC, though he’s excited about his new opportunity in Orlando.

Serge Ibaka “Never Asked” Thunder For Trade

August 31st, 2016 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

While plenty of trades were completed on draft night earlier this summer, none were bigger than the four-player deal that saw Serge Ibaka head to Orlando in exchange for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and No. 11 overall pick Domantas Sabonis. In his last season with the Thunder, Ibaka reportedly wasn’t thrilled with his declining role, but in a piece for The Cauldron at SI.com, the veteran big man writes that he didn’t make a trade request.

“I never asked to be traded, even though there was a lot of media conjecture that I was unhappy with my role,” Ibaka wrote. “I had an exit meeting with Billy Donovan and Sam Presti after the season, and both went well. But this is still a business, everybody has to do what’s best for them, and I let my agent deal with the business side of things. I just focus on basketball. I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to go in and ask for a trade, and I would have been happy staying with the Thunder. Playing in the NBA was my dream, and I’d be happy playing anywhere.”

Although Ibaka makes it clear that he didn’t ask the Thunder to trade him, it sounds as if agent Andy Miller was at least somewhat involved in finding his client a new home. In the days after the deal was completed, Miller told Chris Mannix of The Vertical that Oklahoma City had “overpromised and under-delivered” on a larger role for Ibaka. Assuming Ibaka agreed with that sentiment, it’s perhaps not surprising that he sounds excited by the idea of getting a fresh start in Orlando, suggesting in his SI.com piece that he feels like a rookie again.

“I’m thrilled to be in Orlando,” Ibaka wrote. “I know that might sound crazy to some people, that I’m excited to go from a contender like the Thunder to a rebuilding team, one that hasn’t made the playoffs in four years, but playing now for Frank Vogel, a coach who prides himself on defense, is very exciting for me. We have a core of like-minded, young, athletic players, which is going to be very fun. We are an old-school, smashmouth team, and I can’t wait to don a Magic uniform on opening night.”

Ibaka’s contract is set to expire after 2017, so the Magic will eventually have to work out an extension or a new free agent contract with him if they hope to keep him in the fold for more than one season.

Southeast Notes: Marshall, Hornets, Ibaka

August 27th, 2016 at 9:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Wizards could be a suitor for Kendall Marshall, Ben Standig of Comcast Sportsnet speculates. Marshall was traded to the Jazz and subsequently waived on Friday. Washington could look to add depth at the point guard position with John Wall still recovering from knee surgery. The team added former first round pick Trey Burke via trade this offseason and the Michigan product will likely get the first shot at backing up the team’s franchise player.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Hornets made several under-the-radar moves to improve this offseason, such as signing Ramon Sessions to a team-friendly deal, and they should be considered the biggest challengers to Cleveland for the Eastern Conference crown, Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders argues. Dowsett also praises the decision to bring Roy Hibbert aboard on a one-year, $5MM deal.
The Magic acquired Serge Ibaka on draft night and they hope the big man can help lead them back to the playoffs, however, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders is pessimistic about Ibaka’s chances of having a strong 2016/17 campaign. Greene notes that Ibaka’s production, including his points, rebounds and blocks per game, has decreased over the past several seasons. His field goal percentage has also dwindled, going from 57.3% during the 2012/13 season to 47.9% last year.

Southeast Notes: Spoelstra, Ibaka, Splitter

August 16th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made no mention of Chris Bosh in two video messages posted today on the team’s website, relays Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The status of the veteran big man remains uncertain after his past two seasons were cut short because of blood clots. Spoelstra singled out Hassan Whiteside, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and Tyler Johnson as defensive leaders who will define the team in the post-Dwyane Wade era. “You learn pretty quickly in this league that your roster is going to change,” Spoelstra said, “sometimes your staff changes. Expectations change. It’s like that every year. Just when you get comfortable, it will change. This is a new challenge. We’re embracing the change. We’re excited about the future, excited about the guys we have on our team. You also have to have the right kind of players.” Owner Micky Arison named Bosh as part of the Heat’s future in a recent letter to Miami fans.

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Magic can offer an extension to newly acquired power forward Serge Ibaka, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Ibaka, whom Orlando picked up in a draft-night deal with the Thunder, is about to enter the last season of a four-year, $49MM extension he received from Oklahoma City. Ibaka would be limited to a 4.5% raise from his $12.2MM salary in the first year of an extension because the Magic are over the salary cap, Marks notes, and because he has been traded in the past six months Ibaka can only have two years added to his contract.
Tiago Splitter believes the Hawks will be a much better defensive team with Dwight Howard replacing Al Horford at center, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also cited an improvement in defense at point guard, where Dennis Schroder is taking over for the traded Jeff Teague. “[Howard] is a little bit more of a defensive player than Al, more rebounds, more physical presence on the court,” Splitter said. “That is going to change our team. … Dennis, he is also a great defender. He’s a better defender than Jeff. He will pressure the point guard the whole court.” Splitter, who had hip surgery in February and was limited to 36 games last season, also figures to improve the defense with his return to the lineup.
The Hawks hired Richard Midgley as their west coast scout, Vivlamore writes in a separate story. Midgley has been a coach at Modesto Christian High School in California for the past two seasons.

Eastern Notes: Saric, Ibaka, Heat, Wizards

August 8th, 2016 at 10:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dario Saric has the right temperament to excel in the NBA, the elder statesman of Croatia’s Olympic team told Michael Lee of The Vertical. The 22-year-old power forward, a 2014 lottery pick, will join the Sixers this season after spending the last two years overseas. Roko Ukic told Lee that Philadelphia is getting a tough-minded player. “He’s got a great mentality,” Ukic said. “Even the time things don’t go great for him shooting-wise or offensively, he can bring so much different stuff to the table. So he can help the team in various ways. He’s not like one-way player.” Saric struggled in his Olympic debut but made a key block against Spain’s Pau Gasol to secure an upset victory, which Ukic labelled a character-building effort. “Whoever come from our country to the NBA, is like our next big thing. There is so much pressure,” he said to Lee. “These kind of wins, these kind of games can give him the push in the back and help him, not only for this tournament, but for his career.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Serge Ibaka gives the Magic a much better defensive option against Eastern Conference counterparts LeBron James, Al Horford, Chris Bosh and Paul Millsap, as Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel breaks down in his latest column. Ibaka, who was acquired from the Thunder in a draft-night deal, provides the club with its first legitimate power forward in 15 years, Schmitz declares.
The Heat’s development and scouting staff will play an integral part in getting the franchise back to the status of serious contender, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel opines. The coaching staff needs to develop the skills of Hassan Whiteside, Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson and Tyler Johnson, while the scouting staff must maximize next year’s first-round pick, Winderman continues. That will help attract free agents to South Beach because the Heat can no longer rely on quick fixes, Winderman adds.
Center Micheal Eric, who played on the Wizards’ Las Vegas summer league team, has signed with Spanish Club Bilbao, league sources informed J. Michael of CSNmidatlantic.com. Eric had the option of joining Washington for training camp but decided to head overseas when the club wouldn’t offer a partial guarantee, Michael adds. The 28-year-old Eric averaged 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in five summer league outings.

Raptors Notes: DeRozan, Wright, Ibaka

August 1st, 2016 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

DeMar DeRozan signed the second-largest free agent contract of 2016, but his foray into free agency flew somewhat under the radar — perhaps because it only lasted for a matter of hours. Although he admits to David Morrow of DefPen.com that the idea of joining his hometown Lakers was somewhat intriguing, DeRozan never took a meeting with a team besides the Raptors.

“It was tough,” DeRozan said of his free agency decision. “But at the same time, I know what I created in Toronto, and it was something I wanted to continue building.”

Here’s more on DeRozan’s free agency, along with a few other Raptors-related notes:

DeRozan also spoke to Morrow about the stress of entering free agency: “You got everybody pulling at you, trying to give you a reason to come to their team, and it’s tough. Especially when you’ve been with one team for so long, you feel like you mold into that one team, that community. It’s tough.”
Raptors point guard Delon Wright underwent arthroscopic surgery today to repair a labral tear in his right shoulder, the Raptors announced today (via Twitter). The 20th overall pick in last year’s draft, Wright didn’t see much NBA action in his rookie year, having spent a portion of the season in the D-League. His quest for a larger role in his second season will be put on hold while he recovers.
The Raptors reportedly made an effort to trade for Serge Ibaka earlier this summer, but balked at Oklahoma City’s asking price, and Ibaka ultimately landed in Orlando. However, the big man will be a free agent in 2017, and Doug Smith of The Toronto Star writes in his mailbag that Ibaka is “very much on [the Raptors’] minds” as a possible target next summer.