Serge Ibaka, Thunder Reportedly Agree To 4-Year, $48 Million Extension

We obviously don’t know the answer to that question yet, and we won’t until Harden makes up his mind. Still, to me, a lot of the assumptions made about Harden’s future were people seeing the forest for the trees. If anything, keeping Ibaka makes it more likely Harden stays, not less.

So, people ask, how can OKC afford Harden? Simple: look at how much long-term money Russell Westbrook and Ibaka just sacrificed to stick around.

SB Nation’s Thunder blog Welcome To Loud City went through that process after digesting the news of the four-year, $48 million extension OKC agreed to with Ibaka. While general manager Sam Presti inked a favorable deal with Ibaka, it still doesn’t leave any reasonable room under the salary cap to keep Harden past next season. Barring Harden agreeing to a below-market contract or OKC ownership’s willingness to pay the luxury tax, WTLC thinks the Thunder made the best of the tough decisions facing them in this situation.

For more on the Ibaka and the Thunder, visit Welcome To Loud City and SB Nation Kansas City.

The three Thunder stars will take up around $45-$50 million of the team’s salary cap during the three years their contracts overlap. If the NBA salary cap continues to hover around the current $58 million, that doesn’t leave a lot of money to fill out the remainder of the roster.

For more on the Ibaka and the Thunder, visit Welcome To Loud City and SB Nation Kansas City.

Ibaka has become one of the NBA’s best shot blockers. He started all 66 regular season games for Oklahoma City, averaging 9.1 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and a NBA best 3.7 blocks per game. Ibaka has career averages of 8.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

The terms of Ibaka’s extension, which have yet to be disclosed, will determine if the Thunder are able to extend Harden without going into the luxury tax.