The big man of free agency Serge Ibaka agreed to re-sign with Shove on a one-year contract, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Ibaka, 32, was traded from the Clippers to Bucks by the 2022 trade deadline and appeared in 19 regular season games for Milwaukee in the long run, averaging 7.0 PPG and 5.3 RPG with a firing line of .519 / .351 / .800 in 17.8 MPG. He didn’t make it to the team’s playoffs.
Ibaka was a three-time Defensive player who led the NBA in saves per game in 2012 and 2013 and was a key member of the Raptors’ 2019 championship team.
However, back problems have slowed him down to some extent in recent years – he underwent surgery in 2021 and didn’t look the same when he returned.
While the terms of Ibaka’s new contract are still unknown, it appears the Bucks are confident in his ability to be a useful piece of worm on the front lines now that he’s out of that procedure for another year. .
Ibaka is the fifth free agent to agree to terms with the Bucks in the past few days, joining Bobby Portis, Joe Ingles, Jevon Carterand Wesley Matthews. Milwaukee also has eight players on existing guaranteed contracts, with the first MarJon Beauchamp set to join that group.