{"id":165513,"date":"2025-11-04T06:14:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T11:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=165513"},"modified":"2025-12-08T21:01:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T02:01:01","slug":"3-time-all-defensive-first-team-selection-making-nba-comeback-7-potential-landing-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/04\/3-time-all-defensive-first-team-selection-making-nba-comeback-7-potential-landing-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"3-Time All-Defensive First Team Selection Making NBA Comeback, 7 Potential Landing Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serge Ibaka<\/a> reportedly wants to return to the NBA.\u00a0Will he garner any interest?<\/p>\n

Ibaka recently teased that he wants to return to the Association in a Twitter post<\/a> of him working out at the University of Miami<\/a>. Ibaka, now 36, sat out last season and last played in the league during the 2022-23 season. However, he definitely looked like he could give a team at least 10 quality minutes from the bench.<\/p>\n

3-Time All-Defensive First Team Selection Making NBA Comeback, Teams Who Could Be Interested<\/h2>\n

Ibaka played 14 seasons in the NBA, concluding his tenure with Indiana in 2022-23, during which he appeared in 16 games. Chosen with the No. 24 pick in 2008 by the Seattle Supersonics, Ibaka averaged 12.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks for his career. He spent half of his career with OKC but also played four seasons with Toronto<\/a>, two each with the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> and Milwaukee<\/a>, as well as a lone season in Orlando.<\/a><\/p>\n

After Ibaka was waived by Indiana after being dealt at the 2023 NBA trade deadline by Milwaukee, the 6-11 big man overseas and joined German club Bayern Munich for the 2023-24 season. He moved to the Spanish club Real Madrid this past season. While not as efficient as when at Bayern, Ibaka produced one double-double, averaged 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, and nearly a block a game in less than 13 minutes over 53 appearances with Real.<\/p>\n

What Does Ibaka Bring To A Team?<\/h3>\n

Ibaka is known for his defense, earning first-team All-NBA Defensive Team honors three times, as well as his rebounding. Ibaka is also a solid rim protector, though age has affected his athleticism, and he likes to bang.\u00a0 The question is how much?<\/p>\n

Offensively, Ibaka is at his best around the rim and is an outstanding offensive rebounder. He is also a solid floor spacer who is a career 35% 3-point shooter, although he struggled last season in Madrid.<\/p>\n

So, as long as Ibaka has not shown that he has lost too much in athletics and lateral movement, there is no reason that he shouldn’t get at least calls from NBA teams. At the very least, a team will likely give an opportunity to play for their G-League squad, with the chance to earn a 10-day contract later in the season.<\/p>\n

What teams could use a veteran player who brings toughness, energy, and defense? Here is a look at several of the potential fits. Sixteen teams have an open roster space. However, seven of the 16 teams are close to being hard-capped; therefore, they likely are not open to signing anyone until later in the season.<\/p>\n

Potential Landing Spots<\/h3>\n

Toronto Raptors<\/h4>\n

Toronto is expected to compete for a playoff team, but the Raptors have gotten off to a slow start at 3-4. A big issue for the Raptors has been defense, particularly up front. The Raptors are allowing opposing frontcourts a league-high 77.1 points per game on 53.7% shooting. They are also allowing opponents to shoot 69.3% at the rim and 65% within nine feet of the rim.<\/p>\n

Jakob Poeltl<\/a> has missed three games due to a back injury. Rookie Collin Boyles-Murray<\/a> has been defensively strong, and Ibaka is probably a better deep bench option than Jonathan Mogbo<\/a>. The Raptors have an open roster spot.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Hawks<\/h3>\n

Atlanta is also off to a slow start at 3-4 after making all their offseason moves. While the frontcourt is a strength of the Hawks, there is always a concern about an injury to Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>. Porzingis, who has appeared in 65 games just three times in his 10 years, has already sat out two contests this season. The Hawks have an open roster spot.<\/p>\n

Boston Celtics<\/h3>\n

Boston is very thin upfront, though Joe Mazula’s<\/a> committee approach has worked ok in the early going. However, the Celtics aren’t receiving much offensive production from the power forward and center positions, and they are being outrebounded by two boards per game. The Celtics have an open roster spot.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Timberwolves<\/h4>\n

The two-time Western Conference finalists are just 4-3 in the early going, in part because of the lack of production of their bigs. Julius Randle<\/a> has been excellent, but Rudy Gobert<\/a> has gotten off to a slow start, and Naz Reid<\/a> has not been as efficient as usual. Besides, the Wolves really don’t have anyone behind Randle, Gobert, and Reid except for 2025 first-round pick Joan Benninger<\/a>. They have an open roster spot.<\/p>\n

Golden State Warriors<\/h3>\n

While the Warriors<\/a> brought in Al Horford,<\/a> who is not playing back-to-backs, the 39-year-old hasn’t really stabilized the center position.\u00a0 Horford has struggled in the early going on the glass and shooting, averaging 5.4 points and 4.0 boards with shooting splits of 37.9\/29.4\/50.<\/p>\n

Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga have been excellent, but Quenton Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis<\/a> haven’t provided the Warriors with anything offensively. The Warriors have struggled to protect the paint and rim, as opponents are shooting 68.2% from within five feet of the hoop. They also rank in the bottom 10 of the league in points allowed in the paint.<\/p>\n

Golden State has an open roster spot, but they are just $2 million from being hard-capped at the second apron. Besides, the Warriors are expected to sign Seth Curry<\/a> later this year. However, Jackson-Davis’ ($2.2 million) contract doesn’t fully guarantee until January 10.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia 76ers<\/h3>\n

The health of Joel Embiid<\/a> and Paul George,<\/a> who still have no clear timetable to make their season debut, is of paramount importance. While the 76ers<\/a> are off to a 5-1 start, they are getting outrebounded and struggle to defend the rim, despite recording a league-best 7.0 blocks.<\/p>\n

While the Sixers have an open roster spot, they have several bigs who can contribute in a limited role. Unless Embiid and George are unable to get healthy, the Sixers will probably roll with what they have unless they make a trade.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Cavaliers<\/h4>\n

Cleveland has injuries to key players. The Cavaliers, who recently signed Chris Livingston<\/a> to a two-way deal, have surprisingly struggled this year up front. Evan Mobley<\/a> is off to a career start, but the Cavs haven’t gotten much offensive production from their reserve bigs, and they are getting outrebounded by four boards.<\/p>\n

The Cavlaiers have an open roster spot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 Alonzo Adams, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serge Ibaka reportedly wants to return to the NBA.\u00a0Will he garner any interest? Ibaka recently teased that he wants to return to the Association in a Twitter post of him working out at the University of Miami. Ibaka, now 36, sat out last season and last played in the league during the 2022-23 season. However, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":165584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,4,5,9,2,25,21,62,13,14],"tags":[50328,297,4745,128],"class_list":["post-165513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-hawks","category-celtics","category-cavaliers","category-featured","category-warriors","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-76ers","category-raptors","tag-g-league","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-injuries","tag-serge-ibaka"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165513"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165586,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165513\/revisions\/165586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}