Ibaka will fight for the ring with the Bucks

Serge Ibaka will fight for his second NBA championship ring with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Spanish-Congolese power forward leaves the Los Angeles Clippers to join the defending NBA champions as part of a four-way transfer that increases the Spanish international’s chances of playing again in the Finals of the best basketball competition on the planet and It will allow him to join forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo, again in the race for MVP.

Along with Ibaka, the Bucks secure two future draft rounds and financial compensation, while the Clippers recruit Rodney Hood and Semi Ojele. The operation also involves the Sacramento Kings, who are reinforced by Donte DiVincenzo, Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson; and the Pistons, who receive Marvin Bagley Jr., formerly of the Kings, one of the most active franchises in this transfer window and whose main bet has been the Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis, from the Indiana Pacers.

Ibaka, NBA champion in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors, leaves a team in free fall like the Clippers, currently eighth in the Western Conference and who have been heavily decimated by the losses of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, to end up in some Bucks that have gone from less to more and hold the second position in the Eastern Conference, where they are hot on the heels of the Miami Heat.

busy market

It will be Ibaka’s fifth destination in the NBA. The Hispanic-Congolese, who averages 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 2 blocks in the 884 games played since he landed in the North American league, has passed through the ranks of the Oklahoma City Thunder (2009- 2016), the Orlando Magic (2016-2017), the Toronto Raptors (2017-2020) and the Los Angeles Clippers (2020-2022). A payroll to which we must now add the Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.

The power forward, weighed down last year by a back injury, is having a difficult season in which he puts up numbers far removed from his usual records: just 6.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1 assist and 0.7 blocks in an average of 15.4 minutes on the court, the lowest figure of his career. Despite this, at 32 years old he is still a very appreciated interior in the NBA for his explosive physique, intimidation ability and good hand in the outside shot. Some virtues that he will try to enhance under Mike Budenholzer.

Ibaka’s is the third movement involving a Spanish player in the NBA market in recent days. Previously, the Cleveland Cavaliers sent point guard Ricky Rubio, currently injured, to the Indiana Pacers. And the San Antonio Spurs transferred Juancho Hernangómez to the Utah Jazz, where the man from Madrid, who started the season with the Boston Celtics, will try to get out of the hole to guarantee his permanence in the league.

James Harden at a Nets game. / Shawn Thew (Efe)

Harden traded to the Sixers

The hectic last hours of the NBA market have brought about a tectonic movement that alters the correlation of forces in the Eastern Conference. James Harden sees his purpose of leaving the Brooklyn Nets materialized and will now wear the shirt of the Philadelphia 76ers, who are catapulting themselves among the main candidates for the ring by uniting the fantastic scorer and game director with the power of Joel Embiid.

Harden thus crosses his path again with that of Daryl Morey. Architect of the ‘ultra small ball’ of the Houston Rockets and now boss in the city of freedom, Morey had been fighting for some time to incorporate the hitherto Nets player and is reinforced by an operation that sends Ben Simmons, Seth Curry to Brooklyn , Andre Drummond and two first draft rounds, while the Sixers also get Paul Millsap.

Simmons had not made his debut this season and was also not receiving his salary, after pleading in absentia and requesting his departure from Philadephia. The Australian point guard will try to redirect his career in the Nets, a team built around a constellation of stars that has not given the expected performance and barely brought together James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a handful of games, the members of his ‘big three’.