Oh ok, now i get what you were saying, thanks. And yeah, i think the Raptors are also very likely to operate over the cap due to their roster situation.
Actually Ibaka has had a little recovery on his rebounding this year after three straight years of worrying decline. His DREB% is at his career average. That's a bit heartening.
Howard is a horrible comparison to Ibaka. Defensively, they're both competent rim protecters and shot blockers, but Dwight is infinitely better on the glass. And on the flip side, Dwight is a black hole offensively who can't hit a shot outside of five feet, can't hit a free throw, turns the ball over way too often and can't just play within the flow of an offense. Ibaka is kind of the polar opposite of Dwight on that end of the floor: plays within the flow of the offense, has range outside of the arc, rarely turns it over and is excellent at the charity stripe.
Trade for Ibaka and push CC to the bench. He isn't the thick rebounder we need but is an Upgrade. I like him more at Center than Cc for this year
Would any trade Harrell for Ibaka rental? I know Harrell is undersized and rebounding is a problem, but Harrell is actually a rotation and can ball without screwing up and has had great games. And I mention the rotation because he is a 2nd year player playing on a top 3 seed in the West. He potentially will keep getting better, or may still suck on the boards.
He's generally had recovery a bit in most categories this year, be it on absolute, per game or per possession basis. I don't watch the Magic enough to comment on his "desires" offensively. He seems to score in the post at similar rates and efficiency to Millsap, Love...per NBA advanced stats. Is he "demanding" a lot of post touches? In a Dwight way that would be bad? I'm not much on the "he'll come to our system and be much better" wagon. It seems delusional. That said, there is a wee bit of truth to it... if the player will fit in. If Serge is willing to come in, shoot more threes, get more action off pick and roll, and still have the occasional post up, then I can see his offensive production improve more. If he's willing to do so as principally a small ball 5, and willing to bang and defend.... then he'd be a clear improvement to the team. He's the type of add that could be very important in the playoffs. He gives you a lot of what Anderson gives you, but his ability to play center gives MDA much more flexibility. He'd be a nice addition, but at what cost?
Beverley/Gordon v Curry/Klay Harden v Iggy Ariza v Klay/Curry Anderson v Green Ibaka v Durant Warriors death lineup actually matches up perfectly because of Ibaka's weaknesses. I'd rather take a run at Millsap if possible.
Captain obvious stuff here, but it 100% depends upon the price given his contractual situation. Would he help? Absolutely. He's essentially what we all hoped D-Mo would become: a 14-7 player that can play either 4/5 spot, has range on his shot, plays excellent two-way basketball and isn't selfish. Only in Ibaka's case you get some shot blocking, to boot. Show me an offer.
He was an elite weak side help defender at the rim - guess he's still ok now. But how is his on-ball defense? Does he allow us to switch without being an automatic And1?
As others have said if he can be acquired without giving up too much even as a rental it'd be a trade worth doing. I also agree that he won't automatically become better playing for us but I would expect a slight improvement in his statistical performance.
By turns it over you mean 1-2 more TO per game, right? That's not really a big difference given Dwight has historically scored 7 more pts than Ibaka and does so at a higher clip. Its hard to say whether Ibaka plays within the flow of the offense or not because in OKC he had been marginalized and only took like 5 shots a game, from what I've seen in Orlando his tendency is a lot like Dwight in that he wants touches even when it'll bog the offense down. At the end of the day, Orlando traded a good player for him. If he was any good they would keep him around instead of putting him on the trade block because when they trade him its gonna be at a loss considering his FA status. Try to look from other team's perspective as well because we always tend to think grass is greener on the other side.
