Ibaka signs four-year, $48m extension

[Phil89]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/82800 ... ion-report

The Oklahoma City Thunder have locked up another of their core players by agreeing to a contract extension with center Serge Ibaka, according to a report.

Ibaka agreed to a four-year deal worth $48 million, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Considered an above-average defensive player, Ibaka would've been eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA
Serge Ibaka deal is 4 years, $48 million, league source tells Y! Sports.

[_Steve_]

Huge contract for Serge. No doubt he helped OKC a lot, but 48 mio...

[NovU]

Only if they didn't bring in Perkins, they could have signed Harden as well.

[benji]

Only if they didn't bring in Perkins, they could have signed Harden as well.

They can still sign Harden...

[Jackal]

He deserves that money more than other big men who have signed similiar deals. McGee is getting 10 orso per year and Jordan around 11, so 12 doesn't sound too bad for someone as serviceable as him. He's adding that outside jumper too so really, it's good signing.

[stereoxide]

Only if they didn't bring in Perkins, they could have signed Harden as well.

They can still sign Harden...

But if someone gives Harden a max deal, he's done as a Thunder.

[Phil89]

But if someone gives Harden a max deal, he's done as a Thunder.

That's assuming he becomes a RFA, or that the Thunder wouldn't match the offer.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/b ... index.html

Presti dismissed the notion that Ibaka's signing means that Harden's departure is inevitable. But with more than $50 million committed per season to All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and starting center Kendrick Perkins, there is not much room left in the budget for Harden, who earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in London.

Ibaka played for Spain's silver-medal winning Olympic team. Both he and Harden were eligible for extensions to their rookie contracts for the first time this summer and were set to become free agents after next season.

"We're going to continue our conversations with James. We very much value him," Presti said. "We want him to be a part of our organization moving forward. We're excited that he's a member of the Thunder and we're hopeful that he'll be with us for years moving forward."

To make that happen, Oklahoma City would likely have to go over the salary cap - set at about $58 million for next season - and pay a luxury tax or make other moves, such as using the amnesty clause to erase Perkins' contract.

[stereoxide]

That's assuming he becomes a RFA, or that the Thunder wouldn't match the offer.

I really hope so because they have good chemistry together and it will be sad if Harden leaves.

[Andrew]

Seems like fair market value to me. He's coming along quite well the last couple of years and proven himself to be a very good fit, so I say it's a very good move.

It'll be interesting to see how they handle the situation with Harden. He was disappointing in the Finals but he's ultimately too good a player to just give up, so I assume they'll try to find a way to keep him around.

[NovU]

Can they amnesty Perkins and sign Harden? It'll be worth it imo.

[benji]

Of course they can. But they don't need to amnesty anyone, nobody can pay Harden more than they can and they can just resign him to whatever.

The only thing stopping the Thunder from bringing back Harden is if they don't want to pay the luxury tax for this:

[stereoxide]

Looks like KD is also having fun. I think he will force the Thunder front office to resign Harden whatever way possible.

[rise]

I think they'll extend Harden before the deadline and live with the luxury tax bill. However, if that bill gets a little too big, I can see them amnestying Perkins. They'll keep Perkins around for a little while longer as an answer to slowing down Dwight Howard.

[Andrew]

Considering the fact that the luxury tax is going to become much harsher in the upcoming years, I'd say they'll do their best to avoid exceeding it by very much, if indeed at all. I'd say only teams like the Knicks or Lakers are likely to be willing to go deep into luxury tax territory and we could even see that change.