The Brooklyn Nets face the need to surround Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant with a championship-level supporting cast. There’s a particular free agent the organization could target in NBA free agency.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, prominent members of the Nets organization would like to see the team sign Ibaka this NBA offseason.
As Forbes’ Mike Mazzeo notes and SNY sources can confirm, prominent members of the Nets organization would like to see the club sign free agent Serge Ibaka. Ibaka is close with Kevin Durant, and he’d be an incredible addition for a club with title aspirations. But can Brooklyn afford Ibaka? It seems highly unlikely that he’ll sign for the tax-payer exception ($5.7 million per year). Ibaka made $23 million dollars last season.
Begley noted how teams with cap space are expected to offer a deal around three-years worth $12-15 million per season.
Those teams monitoring Ibaka’s free agency believe he’d have interest in a deal in the neighborhood of three years and $12-15 million per year from teams with cap space.
There will be no shortage of NBA teams interested in signing Ibaka in free agency. He played a pivotal role in the Toronto Raptors’ successful championship run in 2018-19 with his defensive versatility and floor spacing impact.
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For a team that needs help on defense without sacrificing having room for their star players to operate with the ball, Ibaka is an ideal option. He may not be a sharpshooter, but he is more than capable of converting on open shots that come his way.
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The prior connection Ibaka has with Durant would need to be a motivating factor in addition to being in a position to compete for another NBA championship. Mostly due to the Nets not having the full mid-level exception and only having the tax-payer exception worth $5.7 million.
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