The last time Serge Ibaka was in the NBA, he was a member of the 2022-23 Milwaukee Bucks, playing his 14th and – to date – final season in the top American league. But while he has been out of the NBA for two years, Ibaka has not been out of basketball.
Over the past two seasons, Ibaka has been playing in the EuroLeague, the top-tier intracontinental European club basketball tournament replete with former, fringe and future NBA talents. He spent the 2023-24 season in Germany with Bayern Munich, then moved back to Spain to join up with Real Madrid, the powerhouse with whom he had spent a few months back in 2011 during the NBA lockout.
Earlier this month, Real confirmed that Ibaka had left the team as a free agent, which he remains today. Back in his adoptive country and still playing high-level basketball without the travel schedule of the NBA, Ibaka may be happy where he is. But if he wants one more go-around on American shores, the case that he merits one is easy to make.
Ibaka’s European Second Wind
Last season in the EuroLeague, Ibaka averaged 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game, and if it does not sound like a lot, bear in mind that it came in only 12.8 minutes per game in EuroLeague play. EuroLeague teams run 12-man rotations in 40 minute games; no one’s per-game numbers are all that high.
To be sure, Ibaka is slowing down a little bit. Turning 36 years old in September, the 6’10 big man whose game was once based on his exceptional athletic abilities is finding those abilities start to diminish via the ageing process, as do we all.
Nonetheless, as his physical tools have declined over the past decade, Ibaka’s skill set and IQ have improved. In particular, his floor-stretching ability and decision-making with the ball in his hands have seen him become a solid and versatile inside-outside offensive presence, and while the leaps are not quite as high or as regular as they were, he can still patrol the paint on the defensive end.
One More Turn As An NBA Grandee
Any path back to the NBA for Ibaka would involve the express understanding that his role would be a small one.
At this point, Ibaka is at best a minimum salary player who, realistically, would be on the fringes of the rotation, given the need to reduce his workload and the increasing requirement to keep him in the paint on the defensive end as the recovery speed dwindles. He had started to be left behind by the pace of the NBA game in his final two years, split between the Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers, and the eternal lure of the younger player will count against him.
It is also of course more likely that Ibaka’s career will continue in the EuroLeague. Each of Baskonia, Paris Basket and Olympiakos all said to be interested in his services, and staying in Spain’s ACB even with a non-EuroLeague team could still be a good ending to his career.
However, if any competitive NBA team out there is looking for a two-way veteran, with shooting and rim protection and no known character concerns, they should remember that Serge Ibaka is once again available. After all, he has championship experience.
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