Raptors PF Ibaka named as member of undesirable list

There are a lot of players in the NBA being paid huge money for poor results. Serge Ibaka of the Raptors is named as one of those. Is the charge fair?

A piece in The Sporting News by the worthy Sean Deveney caught our eye recently. He listed his opinion of the NBA’s 15 worst contracts, in the sense of cost vs. payback. I scrolled through in the hope, however faint, of not finding any Toronto Raptors named, but was disappointed. Serge Ibaka is considered as the league’s twelfth worst deal.

Does Mr. Deveney have a point, or is he being too harsh on our veteran power forward? If we were to consider only Serge’s performance in the nightmarish series against the Cavaliers, there would be no argument. He was wretched, and deserved his minimal minutes.

If a team’s highest-paid players aren’t its best players, that isn’t always an indictment of the General Manager. He may have inherited some bad contracts. In the case of a new GM, he could be in the job precisely because ownership tired of paying by the yard for performance by the inch. However, Masai Ujiri has had a hand in the acquisition or retention of all of the players on the Raptors roster, and thus “owns” the payroll.

For the most part, our roster is in alignment. Perhaps the most disturbing issue is not an over-pay, but an under-. Pascal Siakam will make less this season than either Malachi Richardson or Lorenzo Brown. Fortunately another strong season from Pascal will bring him in line for a hefty raise.

Back to Serge. Did his numbers dip last season from his historical norms? His minutes decreased, to (well) under 30 per game for the first time since 2011-12. His scoring was also down, though his shooting was fine. An eFG of 55.2% is healthy.

Serge made his reputation as a demon shotblocker, but he just turned 29 years of age. He’s never again going to be the league leader in this important statistic, as he was twice in Oklahoma City. We can live with that, but not so much with the continued deterioration in his rebounding.

The worst deal, according to Deveney, belongs to Andrew Wiggins, whose numbers took a nasty tumble last season, even as his Minnesota Timberwolves finally made the playoffs. While Wiggins’s wouldn’t be my #1 worst deal, I take Deveney’s point.

If Serge is out, who’s in?

If I don’t like Serge, or any Raptor, on this list, who should be there instead? If this were last season, I’d put Carmelo Anthony there. Sure, he wasn’t a disaster for the Thunder, but I can’t forgive him for saying he won’t come off the bench. He’s getting relative peanuts in Houston this season, so he’s probably a decent value.

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Here’s someone who should make this list: Jimmy Butler, and for a similar reason to ‘Melo. Butler has demanded to be moved out of Minnesota, and ‘Wolves owner Glen Taylor is reportedly making every effort to accommodate him. Butler is a terrific player, and his salary of $19 million and change isn’t outrageous on the face, but I’d still drop him in Serge’s spot on this list. There are few things more disruptive than players who make public their desire to be traded.

Obviously underperforming teams are the first place to look for bad contracts. Deveney has the Knicks’ Joakim Noah at #5.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in Charlotte is making $13 M this season. He’s a small forward who didn’t attempt a 3-ball(!) in 2017-18. If I were a Hornets fan, I’d wear a paper bag to games. Your team is paying Nicholas Batum $24 M, and he averaged 11.6 points PG. I’d add those guys to Bismack Biyombo’s entry (#13) before Serge.

In conclusion, there are a stunning number of bad contracts out there. Many of them belong to big men who cashed in before the league’s recent romance with pace and space truly took hold. I don’t think Serge’s contract belongs among the 15 worst. However, if his deeply disappointing playoff effort continues into this season, I may have to change my tune.

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