Sports

Thunder Secure Serge Ibaka For Four More Years

By ABS Contributor | Published on: August 18, 2012 Comments (0)

The Oklahoma City Thunder built their Western Conference-championship team through the draft. And they are keeping the core of the group together through lengthy contract extensions.

After signing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to lucrative deals, the Thunder have agreed to a four-year, $40-million extension with power forward Serge Ibaka, according to Yahoo!Sports.com.

While Durant, Westbrook and James Harden are the offensive forces that lead OKC, Ibaka has been the defensive anchor. He’s a consistent shot-blocker that was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting for last season.

Ibaka also showed an ability to hit the 12-to-15 foot baseline jump shot, which offers some offensive relief for Oklahoma City’s “Big Three.”

At the same time, the signing of Ibaka clouds further the future of Olympian James Harden with the Thunder. There’s been rampant speculation about the possibility of Harden being moved by OKC in a determination of his impact on the cap and tax being too great. Harden has said he would love to stay in Oklahoma City, where he has teamed with Durant and Westbrook to form a potent trio of scorers.

When talk of Harden being traded emerged, Durant took to Twitter to say to his followers that Harden was not going anywhere. Translate that to mean Durant does not want to break up a team that made it to the NBA Finals.

Thunder owner Clay Bennett may decide to just extend Harden at the max, or re-sign him for the same in free agency and carry the burden of the luxury tax implications. The decision will be the Thunder’s, and it will be a significant one. The team already made one choice by re-signing Ibaka first. It could mean they already made their decision about Harden. Or, it could mean that the team is willing to pay a luxury tax to keep the team in tact with Harden. Only time will tell.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

Related Stories

‘He Don’t Want Nobody to See’: Kevin Durant’s Date Night with Mystery Woman Takes Awkward Turn Over One Sneaky Move He Tried to Hide

‘This Dumba—‘: Russell Westbrook’s Brutal Night on the Court Sparks Sick Threat to His Wife — Her Next Move Sends the Internet Into a Frenzy

James Harden at the Center of Wrongful Death Suit Involving the Tragic Deaths of Former NFL Player D.J. Hayden and Six Others