Los Angeles Lakers: 4 reasons why the Lakers could sign Serge Ibaka
By Jason Reed
4. Serge Ibaka is a nice fallback option at center or could be a great replacement or JaVale McGee
There are two possible routes here that need to be discussed. First, let’s talk about Ibaka being a nice fallback option for the team.
Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers have some decisions to make about the center position. Dwight Howard is an unrestricted free agent, as is DeMarcus Cousins, who the team released last season. While Cousins was released, he seemed to maintain a good relationship with the team and could very well be brought back.
Bringing back Howard and/or Cousins may negate the need for Ibaka. Signing just one of Cousins or Howard could open the door for Ibaka to be the bench four if the team cannot re-sign Markieff Morris. There is absolutely no need for Ibaka is they bring back both Howard and Cousins or one of the two centers as well as Morris.
That is, unless the team is able to flip JaVale McGee and his player option for next season in a trade, opening the door for the team to sign Ibaka to a very similar salary to essentially replace McGee in the rotation.
A Howard-Ibaka or Cousins-Ibaka tandem at the center position would be much better than McGee with either of those players. McGee was really bad in the NBA bubble and does not offer the same multi-dimensional game as Ibaka or Cousins could.
So, with all of these points brought up, it raises the question: will the Los Angeles Lakers actually sign Serge Ibaka? Let’s break it down.