The Oklahoma City Thunder will face an interesting predicament next season, as both James Harden and Serge Ibaka enter the final season of their rookie contracts. With stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook already signed to long-term max deals, the team will try to find a way to lock up the rest of its core. An excess of talent is certainly a good problem to have, but it won't be easy for the Thunder to bring all their players back — Durant and Westbrook alone are slated to earn $30MM+ in 2013/14, the first year in which luxury-tax penalties increase.
Harden has made great strides in each of his first three seasons, earning his first All-Star berth and scoring 16.8 PPG on .491/.390/.846 shooting in 2011/12. His 21.1 PER this year raises his career average to 17.2, and he's become arguably one of the top shooting guards in the NBA and the odds-on favorite for Sixth Man of the Year.
Ibaka, meanwhile, isn't the scorer than Harden is, but he's averaging 10+ rebounds per 36 minutes for the third straight season, and is leading the league in blocks with an incredible 3.7 per game. His 17.5 career PER is actually slightly better than Harden's mark, and he's a legit contender (and David Aldridge's pick) for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award.
GM Sam Presti says the team will do everything it can to ink extensions for Harden and Ibaka, and perhaps one or both players would accept slightly below-market deals to keep playing for a perennial title contender. I think retaining both is possible, perhaps at the expense of Kendrick Perkins, but let's say circumstances prevent the Thunder from keeping both players. If you're Presti, which player is your top priority? Who do you re-sign to play alongside Durant and Westbrook long-term? Harden or Ibaka?
a triple double with points, rebounds and blocks (earlier this year)… how can you not love that?
Ibaka all day. Harden is an extremely talented player, but having two superstars who are offensive minded already can lead to trouble when the team lacks defense. Ibaka is a true defender down low, and is a strong rebounder, and can be effective with Westbrook finding him on pick and rolls, etc.
Ibaka. I love what both bring to the table but Serge’s defense trumps what Harden provides. Plus, shooting guards are easier to find than elite defensive PF … but signing them both would be the best case scenario for the team
the answer is Harden… as a thunder fan i love them both but without harden the thunder do not have a bench. Harden comes on the court and completely takes over he is not just a shooter he is a true playmaker in the mold of manu and those guys are as rare as they come. Having harden on the 2nd unit allows the thunder to play 4 other subpar players and often expand leads
This will really suck if we lose either of them, The Answer is both! With Harden gone we have no bench and reliable guard to distribute the ball as well as shoot consistently! With Serge (my favorite Thunder player) gone our defense will suffer tremendously with him setting the games tone swatting away and knocking down passes. So i would say both, have Kevin and Russel restructure their contracts so the team can keep the players who actually make them great!