Serge Ibaka is out for the season, but how will it impact the LA Clippers? Likely, not at all.
Some NBA players age like fine wine or fancy cheese, such as Chris Paul who is one win away from a Western Conference Finals appearance. LA Clippers forward Serge Ibaka is not one of those players, unfortunately. Dating back to the tail end of his Oklahoma City Thunder tenure he has been plagued with injuries.
This year is no different. Ibaka missed a significant portion of the Clippers‘ first-round series with the Dallas Mavericks, and he has not seen a single second of court time versus the Utah Jazz.
Due to his back injury, an injury that ultimately forced him onto the operating table and cut his season short.
Clippers say C/F Serge Ibaka underwent season-ending back surgery.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 11, 2021
Even though Ibaka’s presence will be missed, this is not a terrible development for the Clippers. Ibaka is not the player he once was and is beyond his peak. The Clippers will miss him in their frontcourt depth, but it’s not the end of the world for LA.
In the regular-season when Ibaka was in the floor, the Clippers were plus-157 in 955 minutes. When Ibaka was off the hardwood, the Clippers were plus-288 in 2501 minutes of action. What these stats prove is while Ibaka did help the Clippers while he was on the floor, his absence also did not hinder them either.
Because Ibaka only played 18 minutes in the Clippers opening-round series versus the Mavs, those numbers are not worth going over (perhaps that had more to do with this lingering injury).
Has Serge Ibaka played his last game for the LA Clippers?
The answer is likely no. Unless LA can find a trade partner for the 31-year-old aging forward, Clipper fans should expect to see him inside Staples Center again for the 2021-22 campaign. Due to the fact it is highly unlikely Ibaka turns down his $9.7 million player option.
The Ibaka-less Clippers will be looking to even the series with the Jazz tonight. We’ll see if this premise continues to play out and LA is able to overcome the loss of Ibaka.