Should the Toronto Raptors re-sign Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, or Both?

Option A: Toronto Raptors Re-sign Serge Ibaka

One of the more popular options for the Toronto Raptors will be to re-sign Serge Ibaka and let Marc walk in free agency. The main reason why this option is popular is that this season Serge had an amazing break out year where he averaged fifteen points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep.

After signing a three-year contract worth $65 million in 2017 many Raptors fans didn’t know if Serge would live up to that big contract. To his credit, Serge has been fantastic over the last few seasons and has been an amazing contributor as a starter or off the bench.

Especially this past season where Serge became a huge spark off the bench creating scoring opportunities, stretching the floor and really opening up the offence for Nick Nurse. On top of his great offensive production, Serge still provided great defence and rim protection allowing the Raptors to finish the season with the second-best defence in the league.

Probably the best part of Serge’s season had to be his play during the playoffs specifically against the Boston Celtics. There were many moments during the series where the Raptors struggled to score the ball but luckily Serge came into the game and gave the Raptors a huge boost when they really needed it.

Ultimately one can argue Serge was a major component as to why the Raptors were able to push that series to seven games. Overall Serge has had a fantastic season and after a few seasons of consistent improvement and production he deserves to be paid for the amount he brings to this team.

Which brings up the question as to why the should the Raptors re-sign Serge Ibaka over Marc Gasol? To most casual fans they will look at this seasons playoffs and immediately say Serge played better, hence why he should be re-signed. Although the logic for that statement makes sense the incentives for the Raptors to re-sign Serge over Marc run deeper than that.

For starters, Serge is currently 31 years old which makes him four years younger than Marc who will turn 35 in January. This means the Raptors have more confidence signing Serge to a three maybe four-year deal because he will still be young enough to continue to contribute before an eventual decline.

Secondly, Serge is far more athletic than Marc making him the more versatile player and one who fits better with the Raptors other athletic defensive players in Pascal Siakam and OG Annunoby. Finally, Serge has shown over the last two seasons that he is continuing to improve and develop even as he gets older which means if the Raptors re-sign him there is a good chance he can be an even better player for them.

Although there are a lot of positives to re-signing Serge, there are some issues or drawbacks as well. The first one is if the amount of money Serge will demand will be too high for the Raptors to pay. As mentioned earlier the Raptors will have less money to work with this offseason and they need to pay Fred VanVleet, which means if Serge wants one last massive payday the Raptors may not be able to afford to keep him.

The second issue with re-signing Serge is the length of his contract, obviously, the Raptors want as much flexibility as possible to go after Giannis but if Serge wants a long term deal it may be tough to work around.

Finally, the biggest issue will be if Serge can remain consistent on a new contract, although he has shown improvement over the last two seasons, it’s vital for the Raptors that he can be a productive player especially if they do sign him long term.

Overall re-signing Serge seems like the safest option for the Raptors and if he signs for about a two-year deal worth around $20 million annually I think both parties will be happy with that type of deal.