The transfer period has already concluded and there has been movement for the Spanish players. Serge Ibaka, Juancho Hernangómez and Ricky Rubio have changed teams. Willy Hernángomez, Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba continue with their franchises.
The most interesting signing for the Spaniards is that of Ibaka. The Sixers wanted to get rid of him to adjust salary bills. The Spanish power forward has signed with the current NBA champions, the Miwaukee Bucks, a winning team that this year aspires to the ring again. For his part, Ricky lands in Indiana and Juancho in Utah.
Serge Ibaka
The Spaniard, until now in the Los Angeles Clippers, arrives at the Milwaukee Bucks, current champions and top candidates to repeat the title. Serge has been included in a four-way transfer in which the Angelenos, the Milwaukee entity, the Pistons and the Kings have participated. The best part has been taken by the player, who lands in a team with real aspirations to conquer the ringsomething he already did in 2019, when he was a member of the Toronto Raptors ranks.
This was the transfer: The Kings receive Donte DiVincenzo, Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson. The Bucks get Serge Ibaka, two future second-round picks and money. The Clippers acquire Rodney Hood and Semi Ojele. The Pistons, to Marvin Magley III.
At 32 years old, he can still contribute, he is wiser than before and a good physical presence that helps a lot on a defensive level and that, in addition, he shoots this season with almost 39% in field goals, a figure very similar to that of his last season in Toronto (15.4 points and 8.2 rebounds a few months after the ring) and a profile that the Bucks, orphans of a Brook Lopez who still has no return date, need in their scheme.
Ibaka thus arrives at some Bucks who lose DiVincenzo, one of the heroes of the fans and a member, of course, of the squad that conquered the ring last year. The outside power of the team (Holiday, Middleton, George Hill, Connaughton…) is not particularly damaged, while adding a necessary interior specialist to Mike Budenholzer’s team, who will also have a good veteran and a voice in the locker room who already knows what it’s like to win a championship. With good movements in the area, capable of scoring from three-point range and mid-range, a good rebounder and a great defender, Ibaka will have a different role and at the same time very similar to the one he has had at other times in his career and he has the poise and mental capacity to accept any role for the Bucks to win. It would be his second championship ring, also in the Eastern Conference but with a different jersey. Certainly another big star on his incredible resume. Good (and deserved) destiny for a good player.
Juancho Hernangomez
New change of scenery for Juancho. The Spanish international (26 years old and 2.06 meters) has been transferred to the Utah Jazz from the San Antonio Spurs. He has left Texas just three weeks after landing from Boston: he has played five games with 10.2 minutes for 1.4 points and 3 rebounds on average.
It is the third franchise for the power forward this season and sixth since May.: He finished last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who sent him to the Memphis Grizzlies in August. Nine days later he entered another operation, also three-way, this time to Boston, where he played 18 games. From the Celtics to Texas and from the Silver Spur franchise to Salt Lake City.
This has been the operation: Utah Jazz receives Juancho Hernangómez (San Antonio Spurs) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Portland Trail Blazers). San Antonio Spurs receive Tomas Satoransky (Portland Trail Blazers) and a second round. Portland Trail Blazers get Joe Ingles and Elijah Hughes (Utah Jazz) and a second round pick.
Juancho’s arrival in Boston was a true revolution in Spanish basketball. He landed in one of the great NBA franchises … but his role was testimonial. Only 18 games from November to mid-January. His most was 16 minutes against Minnesota on Dec. 27. Ime Udoka, coach of the Celtics, did not count on him neither when the team’s sporting situation required new formulas nor when COVID violently and constantly hit all the teams in the League. Hernangómez’s career in the NBA is being a real torment, the Spaniard has never found his place since leaving Colorado: he has accumulated six franchises since 2019. Two per year on average.
Ricky Rubio
The base goes to the Pacers in an operation in which his contribution is ornamental, since due to his serious knee injury he will not be able to play in Indiana in the time that his current contract expires. But it helps Cleveland to get one of the best players available on the market: Caris LeVert.
The transfer will be completed with some draft picks. A protected first round and unprotected second round, both from 2022, and a 2027 second round go to the Pacers along with Rubio. The Cavaliers only receive, in exchange, a second round of 2022 in addition to the player they wanted.
Rubio ends his three-year contract next summer.. That one signed him with the Suns a few dates after the option to join the Pacers, for having obtained Malcolm Brogdon, vanished. It is not a territory that does not know, therefore. The Spanish will have the opportunity to negotiate again from July.
Ricky’s new team has done more trades, dealing with the Kings. Sacramento gets Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a second-round pick in the 2027 Draft, while the Pacers get Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson.
The rest of the Spanish
For Garuba, Aldama and Willy there are no changes. Usman will continue in the Rockets, a project that is under reconstruction since Harden’s departure and in which Garuba has not fully settled. To this we must add the wrist injury that he has and that will keep him away from the tracks until April.
Santi Aldama has it more difficult. The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the best teams this season. Led by Ja Morant, they are third in the West with a 38-18 record. It is a very balanced squad with an already established rotation, so opportunities for Spanish are reduced. Despite his good role in the subsidiary team, for the moment, he is not in Jenkins’s plans.
Finally, Willy, who this season has gone from less to more. With the Pelicans he has had stellar nights, including his career high 29 points against Embiid’s 76ers a few weeks ago. Little by little he is finding his place and, of those now mentioned, he is the best placed to have more minutes and prominence.
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