RealGM

I just want to chime in with the positives on Ibaka. We won't see him in _Seattle_ for a year or two, and I too have only seen highlights, but he really has decent mechanics on his shot, a light touch, and he is ripped. The only reason folks are comparing Serge to Sene is because they were born in the same continent. It's like comparing Love to Randolf.

wiff wrote:Oh come on DJ you know as well as anyone that PJ will be gone by 2010 when Ibanka is expected to come over.

Please promise me that.

Do you suppose if the miracle happens & Schultz wins the case, the new ownership will hire Tom Thibodeau?

Ya, that'd be two miracles. I shouldn't get greedy.

So question...if he is further along than Sene and we were planning to play Sene prior to his injury...

What is stopping us from playing him as our backup C? We're so thin at that position. I mean seriously, Petro, Sene, and Swift. Sene is gone, and Swift is coming back from injury. Am I mistaken that this guy is a C?

Westbrook/Watson/Ridnour
Durant/Wilkins
Green/Marshall/Griffin
Wilcox/Collison/White/Hardin
Petro/Ibaka/Swift/Sene

Looks like we should trade Watson/Ridnour/Wilkins/Marshall/Griffin/Wilcox for a C. We should also probably look into getting a sixth man swingman. Mike Miller would be ideal but we don't have the right pieces.

kjtruong wrote:What is stopping us from playing him as our backup C? We're so thin at that position. I mean seriously, Petro, Sene, and Swift. Sene is gone, and Swift is coming back from injury. Am I mistaken that this guy is a C?

Our experience with Swift and Sene is stopping us from throwing that 18 year old into the mix, while he's still not ready to contribute on this level. He'll mature in Europe, probably play some Euro League and bang heads with the best players in Europe and will learn from that. In about two years, when i expect him to come over, we'll have a player that's still young, but has played against grown men and very good competition and therefore learned a lot more then what guys are able to learn in the D-League.

BTW: I think Ibaka is more of a pf then a center.

He and his agent are stopping him from playing here. With the USD being so weak against the Euro he would make more money there than he would here on a rookie contract.

Exactly, which is why his agent told teams to not draft him in the first round, and thus lock him into the rookie salary scale if/when he comes over.

Another massive failure, really.

Ibaka signed a 3 year deal with ACB team from Manresa (a litle town near Barcelona). It's a minor club so he might have a lot of playing time in the best national league in Europe.
I guess the contract will have an affordable buyout, probably something in the range of 500000 $, if he decides heading to Oklahoma before it ends.