Ibaka could be a Laker in 2014

[LkrFan]

Will the new CBA allow OKC to resign BOTH Ibaka and Harden? I doubt it. Both should command the max. In 2014 both are eligible to be FA. Which one will they keep? I think Ibaka should get paid max before Harden. I don't see either of them taking less like LBJ/Bosh/Wade did because this will be their first really big contract.

As a Laker fan, I'm hoping Ibaka leaves OKC. Kobe and Pau's combined $49M contracts will be off the books. MK will begin reloading the Lakers at that time. I'm sure Ibaka wouldn't mind being a Laker if small market OKC can't afford to pay him what he's worth ;)

Imagine a Laker frontline of either Bynum/Ibaka or Howard/Ibaka :wow

[AussieFanKurt]

I imagine it, but I doubt strongly it'll happen. Kobe and Pau will still be Lakers then and still getting bulk pay checks.

[LkrFan]

I imagine it, but I doubt strongly it'll happen. Kobe and Pau will still be Lakers then and still getting bulk pay checks.

They won't be getting basically $50M type bulk paychecks. Spurs set the market for an aging franchise player when they paid TD 3/$34M. I see Kobe getting something similar if he plays beyond his current contract.

If Ibaka is available, I highly doubt they opt to resign Pau.

[AussieFanKurt]

They won't be getting basically $50M type bulk paychecks. Spurs set the market for an aging franchise player when they paid TD 3/$34M. I see Kobe getting something similar if he plays beyond his current contract.

If Ibaka is available, I highly doubt they opt to resign Pau.

Surely most teams would take Ibaka over Pau

[LkrFan]

Surely most teams would take Ibaka over Pau

That's not my point. You made it seem like Pau's contract would be detrimental to signing Ibaka. Im saying Pau won't be a Laker beyond his current deal which is perfect timing by the Lakers FO.

[AussieFanKurt]

Yeah you're probably right.

[irishock]

David Stern could pretty much make the Lakers Cap Exception®; The Los Angeles Lakers are the only team in the league that can sign any player outright in free agency without the player's contract affecting the Lakers' Salary Cap.

[Sportcamper]

Pau gets paid more than LeBron...God Bless Pau's agent...:lmao

[racm]

Eh, if Presti knows what's good Ibaka should receive the extension.

[Latarian Milton]

beard nig got his value halved after the NBA finals and olympics this year tbh

[Clipper Nation]

Your takes are pretty much garden-variety Lakersground shit, tbh....

[Wild Cobra Kai]

Ibaka is going to be a Spur next summer.

[racm]

Ibaka is going to be a Spur next summer.

The FA class of 2013 is staaaaacked. No wonder PATFO stood pat and decided all those expiring contracts were worth it.

[JMarkJohns]

Ibaka will be retained and Harden signed/traded to Phoenix for CAP relief and a handful of 1sts. It's already being discussed as Phoenix's #1 plan for the 2013 offseason and Harden is on record of saying he's open to it. I doubt either take the qualifying offer to become unrestricted FAs in 2014.

[ChrisRichards]

They're going to keep Ibaka for sure. DPOY caliber big men are hard to get in this league. Flopping swingmen are dime a dozen.

[pass1st]

Unless Harden becomes a 25ppg, 50% kind of SG, Ibaka is likely going to be the guy they keep

[ChrisRichards]

Harden is capable of averaging those numbers tbh (with the exception of shooting 50%) but even if that's the case, OKC has plenty of scorers already, so Harden can be replaced. Ibaka is a game changer and still has plenty of room to improve his offensive game. Even if he doesn't progess a bit offensively, his defensive presence is huge for OKC especially now that Perkins is pretty much useless at this stage of his career.

[TIMMYtoZO]

:lol@ people continuing to overrate the fuck out of Ibaka.

[-21-]

:lol@ people continuing to overrate the fuck out of Ibaka.

[Wild Cobra Kai]

Harden's ceiling is WAY higher than Ibaka's is. Unless they decide to flip Westbrick (a good idea, but unlikely) they'll have to let one of them go to stay under the tax.

[lefty]

lol goaltending

[Fergie The Florists]

Ibaka is going to be a Spur next summer.

Retarded spur fan take.

[TIMMYtoZO]

Harden's ceiling is WAY higher than Ibaka's is. Unless they decide to flip Westbrick (a good idea, but unlikely) they'll have to let one of them go to stay under the tax.

:lol Yes, a guard with limited athleticism, shitty d, and is useless if he is not getting to the ft line has a very very high ceiling.

:lol @ people who overrate the fuck out of Harden

[TIMMYtoZO]

Retarded spur fan take.

Sup, NewCastleKEG.

[DPG21920]

beard nig got his value halved after the NBA finals and olympics this year tbh

Rouge, I don't agree with that at all. He will still get a large contract. He did not take that big of a financial hit at all IMO. But we will bookmark this and visit at a later date.

[DPG21920]

Ibaka has made some pretty amazing strides, especially offensively. If he continues to develop, he has a lot of potential (he already is very solid). He isn't that great of a post defender, but his help defense and ability to be agile in the PnR is solid - plus he swats everything.

I would imagine OKC would keep him, but you never know with the money they have tied up in Durant/Westbrook. If he gets a similar contract to Westbrook, that is about 50M for the 3 and is about the max they could afford likely being a small market.

[LkrFan]

Your takes are pretty much garden-variety Lakersground shit, tbh....

Sup 4th seed fan?

[LkrFan]

Ibaka has made some pretty amazing strides, especially offensively. If he continues to develop, he has a lot of potential (he already is very solid). He isn't that great of a post defender, but his help defense and ability to be agile in the PnR is solid - plus he swats everything.

I would imagine OKC would keep him, but you never know with the money they have tied up in Durant/Westbrook. If he gets a similar contract to Westbrook, that is about 50M for the 3 and is about the max they could afford likely being a small market.

This. Ibaka is still learning the game too. Insane athleticism.

I'm banking on the fact that they are locked in on major contracts with KD/WB. They can afford probably one more. I'm hoping that Ibaka's price tag will be too much because bigs get paid - especially good ones.

Pau's $18M can go to Ibaka in 2014 :)

[DPG21920]

It's hard to baseline him, but you would imagine he gets in the 12-15M range per year right now with no improvements. OKC will be allowed (per the CBA) to keep both Harden/Ibaka, but I don't think they will. I think even at 18M they probably keep him (as long as Westbrook and Durant are still doing well and they are contenders), but they would be at around ~52-53M in their big 3 - which is doable depending on the where the LT line is set in that year. If it is 70M+ that gives them about 15-16M to fill out their roster which definitely could happen.

[Latarian Milton]

they should just sell the team to a cuban-like owner who never gives a shit about LT tbh, and even if you are willing to pay the tax you still can't ensure the monkeyballers will all commit future with a small market tbh

[Wild Cobra Kai]

This. Ibaka is still learning the game too. Insane athleticism.

I'm banking on the fact that they are locked in on major contracts with KD/WB. They can afford probably one more. I'm hoping that Ibaka's price tag will be too much because bigs get paid - especially good ones.

Pau's $18M can go to Ibaka in 2014 :)

Doesn't work that way. Also, anyone over the tax this season (and from now on) can't be on either end of and sign and trades, either. That's why Cuban has been backing off on salary. He was quoted as saying he didn't mind paying, but he didn't want his trade options limited.

If you can't get Ibaka for the mini MLE (and you can't) you can't get him period.

[DPG21920]

WC - He's saying in theory. LA, with Kobe/Pau off the books will have enough to offer Ibaka 18M (assuming they don't make any moves and the guys coming off the books don't get re-signed.)

[Kidd K]

OKC wasn't going to keep all 4 of their top 4 guys regardless of the changes to the CBA. So let's not try to inception the idea that the CBA is somehow screwing OKC over, because it isn't. At all.

OKC got 3 straight years of top 4 draft picks (#2, #4, and #3) due to tanking for 3 straight years and lucky ping pong balls to bounce their way.

Not intelligent drafting btw. Just drafting the obvious players at the top of the draft that anyone would've drafted anyway. Ibaka, yeah, good pick. . .the other 3? Obvious picks that they only got due to 3 straight years of tanking.

Players cost money. . .and OKC can't pay all 4. They're definitely losing one of those two guys if not both. They might be able to keep them a little longer because their "max salary" isn't too high yet. . .but they are absolutely not staying together for very long.

I doubt OKC is trading Ibaka to the Lakers though, so I seriously doubt that happens. and the Lakers cannot sign Ibaka via free agency due to CBA. Time for Lakers fan to educate themselves on the CBA. You aren't getting top notch players off winning teams with cash. They will not trade with LA.

[DPG21920]

OKC wasn't going to keep all 4 of their top 4 guys regardless of the changes to the CBA. So let's not try to inception the idea that the CBA is somehow screwing OKC over, because it isn't. At all.

OKC got 3 straight years of top 4 draft picks (#2, #4, and #3) due to tanking for 3 straight years and lucky ping pong balls to bounce their way.

Not intelligent drafting btw. Just drafting the obvious players at the top of the draft that anyone would've drafted anyway. Ibaka, yeah, good pick. . .the other 3? Obvious picks that they only got due to 3 straight years of tanking.

Players cost money. . .and OKC can't pay all 4. They're definitely losing one of those two guys if not both. They might be able to keep them a little longer because their "max salary" isn't too high yet. . .but they are absolutely not staying together for very long.

I doubt OKC is trading Ibaka to the Lakers though, so I seriously doubt that happens. and the Lakers cannot sign Ibaka via free agency due to CBA. Time for Lakers fan to educate themselves on the CBA. You aren't getting top notch players off winning teams with cash. They will not trade with LA.

Disagree. The new CBA with a progressive Luxury Tax will certainly hurt teams that were willing to go over it for a short period of time (like the Spurs) when it was just dollar for dollar.

[Kidd K]

Disagree. The new CBA with a progressive Luxury Tax will certainly hurt teams that were willing to go over it for a short period of time (like the Spurs) when it was just dollar for dollar.

Nope, it does not hurt OKC. You're under the mistaken impression that OKC had plans to go well over the cap and well into the luxury tax, which is why you incorrectly think the new CBA hurts them a lot.

OKC is not a rich team and does not pull in enough cash to go into the luxury tax. Very few teams actually do that. OKC hasn't been doing it to date, so it's incorrect to assume they'd magically change their trend to suit an argument which currently has no factual basis.

And before you think you can turn that around and pretend I'm doing the same, here's why you can't: Under the current CBA, nothing prevents OKC from re-signing those players whatsoever. They simply won't choose to do so. It's their choice. Nothing physically makes them do that. Also, I'm saying they will choose to do that because I believe they never had plans to sign them all to the deals they're clearly going to get because they struck me as a cheap franchise. Going off of their spending trends for the last decade, it's very difficult to argue against that.

Therefore the current CBA isn't preventing OKC from keeping their players. OKC's cheap ownership will prevent OKC from keeping their players. The NBA has a soft cap broseph. . .it doesn't prevent much. I mean, the Lakers just grabbed Steve Nash for a cup of coffee and a used ball rack and were allowed to add to their team salary even though it was already way over the cap in the luxury tax. They basically just added a free agent to their team and barely had to jump through any hoops to do it.

Long story short, the only thing preventing any team from making moves is the cash they're willing to spend. You know, the only thing that was preventing teams from making crazy moves before the new CBA?

[Latarian Milton]

ibaka is a good player but is he worth the max? dude is at best the #3 guy on his team, and you ain't offering max for the #3 of any team not named miami heat. nigga will probably get overpaid but not in OKC imho

[Latarian Milton]

Doesn't work that way. Also, anyone over the tax this season (and from now on) can't be on either end of and sign and trades, either. That's why Cuban has been backing off on salary. He was quoted as saying he didn't mind paying, but he didn't want his trade options limited.

If you can't get Ibaka for the mini MLE (and you can't) you can't get him period.

if teams aren't allowed to do a sign&trade on either side when they're over the luxury line, then how the lakers acquired steve nash someone enlighten me. or is there a future date set to get the law enacted?

[DPG21920]

Kidd K - that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but we just disagree.

[DPG21920]

if teams aren't allowed to do a sign&trade on either side when they're over the luxury line, then how the lakers acquired steve nash someone enlighten me. or is there a future date set to get the law enacted?

Future date.

[Stalin]

:lol mummified nash

[LkrFan]

...or KD could be a Laker in 2015 (http://hoopshype.com/salaries/oklahoma_city.htm). In lieu of Presti giving his boy Harden the finger and the steel toed boot, why would KD want to stay there? His current deal expires in 2015. Why wouldn't he just go play with Howard in LA and for Shaq/Kobe 2.:lol?

Just like how Howard is in the last year of his deal right now, OKC may be forced to trade KD to LA - rather than lose him for nothing. :downspin:

[irishock]

Lakers will never rebuild.

[Kidd K]

Truth bomb posts from 2 months ago, calling OKC being too cheap to keep Harden. Now if only someone would bump the "Is Harden worth a max deal?" thread for me calling OKC trading him this season. Very predictable outcome when you consider the mindset of cheap ass owners who value profit margin over championships.

[racm]

Truth bomb posts from 2 months ago, calling OKC being too cheap to keep Harden. Now if only someone would bump the "Is Harden worth a max deal?" thread for me calling OKC trading him this season. Very predictable outcome when you consider the mindset of cheap ass owners who value profit margin over championships.

Son, even Holt ponied up cash when he needed to... now Bennett and co (making their money from an unsafe and environmentally unsound business) can't even pay for one of the more profitable small market teams?

What. The. Eff.