Before the 4 a.m. trade deadline, before the 76ers Nets made a blockbuster deal, the Bucks Kings Clippers Pistons made a big four-way deal first, with the Kings getting Di Vincenzo, Josh Jackson, Treles, the Clippers getting Hood and Ojele, the Pistons getting Marvin Bagley, and the defending champion Bucks getting Ibaka, two future second-round picks from the Pistons and some cash. And Ibaka's strong addition also complements the Bucks' strength in the penalty area, which is definitely a positive signal for them to seek to defend their title this season.
At the deadline for this transaction, the Golden State Warriors, who have a great chance to impact the championship, have not made any moves, and the Nets have not changed much in the overall core lineup after sending Harden away, although simmons have been ushered in, but given that the latter has not been able to prove themselves in the playoffs in recent years, and Irving has been reluctant to vaccinate, the overall competitiveness of the Nets has indeed declined, while the Bucks, who successfully won the second crown in team history last season, have basically not changed much in the overall core lineup, and now they can supplement their most lacking strength in the restricted area. They really have a chance to go to the championship again this year.
The 32-year-old Ibaka, although his state has declined in recent years, his footsteps have moved slowly, but he is not slow enough to be Big Luo, he is a very qualified substitute center, and the Bucks also have good outside defensive resources to decompress the slightly slower inside players (Glenson Allen, Juhorday, Connaughton), with Budenholzer's tactical system, Ibaka should be well adapted to the new environment of the Bucks. In the 35 games that Ibaka played for the Clippers this season, in the 15.4 minutes of playing time, he averaged 6.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 49% of the shooting rate, and the three-point shooting rate also had 38.7%, if Da luo's injury recovery this season is not as expected, Ibaka is likely to go directly to the Position of the Bucks' starting No. 5 position, so that Portis, who is currently a guest center, can also go to the No. 4 position that he is most familiar with, reducing the consumption for Brother Alphabet.
Ibaka, who has been in the NBA for 13 years, was also the league's defensive champion at the beginning of his debut, once won the best defensive team 3 times, and then switched to the Raptors, he also made a great contribution to the team to win the first championship in team history, in the 19-20 season, that is, the year Leonard left, he and Xiao Jia's twin tower combination also allowed the Raptors to continue to maintain competitiveness. That season he averaged a career-best 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range.
As a inside-and-out, defensive interior player, Ibaka's joining is definitely a very important puzzle for the Bucks, so that the Bucks will have Monroe, Dalo (still in the recovery stage) and Ibaka in the penalty area, as long as they can maintain full health, it is absolutely very good to defend the title.
With a slightly chicken rib of Di Vincenzo plus a basically unmatched Ojelet this season, you can perfectly strengthen his weakest interior position, the Bucks management of this wave of "god operation" is indeed admirable, if the Bucks can really defend the title this season, the team owner really has to thank general manager Jonhorst.