Los Angeles Clippers quickly bounced back from losing reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harell to cross-town rivals LA Lakers by reportedly agreeing on a deal with veteran big-man Serge Ibaka.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ibaka committed to a two-year contract with the Clippers, reportedly worth $19 million. The 31-year-old forward/center gets a player option for the second year as part of the deal.
Ibaka spent the previous three years with the Toronto Raptors, who, according to reports, made a strong push to keep him. However, the player was more enticed to play for a more obvious contender in Clippers, where he would be reunited with superstar Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard and Ibaka played together in Toronto during the 2018/19 season when they helped the Raptors win their first NBA title in franchise history.
Ibaka is coming off a highly productive year in which he averaged a career-high 15.4 points while adding 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He also established himself as a player who can stretch the floor and made 38.5 percent of his attempts from the three-point line.
It was important for LA Clippers to land Serge Ibaka, considering they lost two impactful players in the free agency. As previously mentioned, Harell made a shocking decision to join the Lakers while forward JaMychal Green opted to join Denver Nuggets.
Clippers also managed to re-sign forward Marcus Morris to a long-term deal and bring back veteran Patrick Patterson in recent days.
