Is Serge Ibaka a Max Player in Summer of 2017?

[bondom34]

I voted no, I thought yes until this year. But his knees are going, and he doesn't look the same athletically. Still very good, but not the same.

Every time I watch OKC Ibaka seems to just blend in. In the past he would stand out way more. What's the deal with that? Are they using him differently? Has he just lost a step?

Little of both IMO. I think offensively Donovan likes bigs who can pass a bit better, but the bigger thing is that ever since he hurt his knee, he's just never recovered fully. People see him w/ ice on them on the bench like every game. I think they're hurting. Sucks because he's young and a great person and hard worker too.

[ropjhk]

2017 max is different than the max contracts given out lately. Players like Gordon Hayward were given max contracts because of the upcoming salary cap increase. Once the salary cap goes up, these players won't be getting new max contracts that pay them over 20 million a year.

[Yoshun]

He does not have the same impact he once did. He could still be a good player on a good team, but I would not give him any kind of max anything.

[OkcMagic]

No, but if any teams are giving him the max, we are more than glad to have a trade discussion this summer

[Daddy 801]

You also have to consider that the "max" is an artificial construct in the CBA to protect the middle class. The CBA forces teams to overpay the middle and underpay the top tier.

Lebron is making, what $30M, but considering his value to a franchise (total revenue, jersey, ticket, marketing blahblah), thats chump change and he's worth several times that.

But next year Harrison Barnes is gonna get $23. Is he "worth" that compared to Lebron? Nope. Will he get that because multiple teams will give it to him? Yes. So he's being valued that way by the league, which means he's "worth it" considering the rules we play by

its super naive to say someone isn't "worth" the max. Worth is determined by the market and the cba

This