Serge Ibaka has exercised his player option and will return to the LA Clippers for his second season, sources confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
Ibaka picked up his $9.7-million option. The veteran center was the Clippers' biggest addition during the plast offseason in free agency but Ibaka was limited to just 41 regular season games with a back injury.
Ibaka missed 30 straight games with the injury before returning for the final two games of the regular season. He played in the Clippers' first two playoff games of the first round against the Dallas Mavericks before undergoing back surgery later in the postseason.