Mavs Rumors: Interest in Ibaka, Bye To Kidd-Gilchrist?

Dallas Mavs NBA Rumors: Interest in Ibaka, Bye To Kidd-Gilchrist?

DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks' interest in Serge Ibaka is a long-standing one. And now respected NBA reporter Sean Deveaney is including Dallas on a list of Ibaka pursuers.

The Raptors big man is most specifically tied to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, Deveaney writes. 

“From a personnel standpoint, he is exactly the kind of combo big guy that team (the Lakers) needs,” one NBA general manager told Deveaney. “They have had interest in him before and they will again. When he is healthy he is an excellent spot starter at the 5 (center) and the 4 (power forward). He is as good a bench big guy as there is in the league. He was a really credible 3-point threat last year. If he is willing to accept what the Lakers can afford to give him, I know they would want him.”

All of those descriptions of the Lakers' fit with Ibaka are mirrored by Dallas' fit with the 31-year-old 7-footer, who will be free coming off the three-year, $64 million deal he signed in 2017. Ibaka has in the last two seasons averaging better than 15 points and eight rebounds per game as a starter with a contender in Toronto.

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Meanwhile, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who played a minor role at the end of the season for Dallas in 2019-20, is free and is reportedly high on the New York Knicks' wish list. Kidd-Gilchrist played in 13 games for Dallas, averaging nine minutes per, and while he proved to be helpful as a defender and rebounder, his infamously poor shot made it a joyous surprise when he canned a pair of long-range jumpers while playing for Dallas last season in the NBA bubble.