The Oklahoma City Thunder have reached an agreement with forward Serge Ibaka on a four-year extension. The deal is for four-years, $48 million.
The 6-foot-10 Ibaka, who just completed his third season, averaged 9.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks this past season. He also was a member of Spain’s silver medal-winning team at the London Olympics
With signing the extension, Ibaka is the latest member of the Western Conference champion Thunder to reach a long-term extension, joining Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The three stars will take up around $45-$50 million of the team’s salary cap and if the NBA salary cap continues to be around $58 million, it won’t give the Thunder a lot of flexibility to add to their roster.
OKC will now turn their attention to re-signing James Harden. The reigning NBA sixth man of the year is scheduled to become a restricted free agency next summer and there’s been rampant speculation about whether Oklahoma City can afford to keep both Ibaka and Harden.
Harden has expressed a desire to stay in Oklahoma City and Durant has stated multiple times he wants him back. The Thunder could simply elect to keep those four players, deal with the luxury tax implications, and figure out the rest as they go.
