C Mo Bamba – Orlando Magic
With Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier all gone, the Orlando Magic are rebuilding and looking to move on from unwanted contracts left on their roster. Terrence Ross is a prime trade candidate in Orlando this offseason, but so is 23-year-old center Mo Bamba, who has one year and $7.5M remaining on his contract.
The Magic own the No. 5 and No. 8 picks in this year’s draft, so they could definitely look to target one of the better big men in this year’s draft class, but they also own the No. 33 pick in the draft and could target one of the big guys that fall out of the first-round. Bamba is not really needed anymore on the Magic’s roster with Wendell Carter Jr. being there either, which is why they could look to trade him.
Through three seasons in Orlando, Mo Bamba has averaged 6.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and has shot 47.1% from the floor, 32.5% from three-point range. Given his 7’10” wingspan and his athleticism for a 7-footer, Bamba is viewed by a lot of league personnel as a young talent who can be a real difference defensively and also thrive on offense in pick-and-roll situations.
His shot is virtually unblockable because of how tall he is and Mo Bamba could be a real double-double threat in the paint given time to prove himself. Given that he has one year remaining on his contract a team looking for a young frontcourt talent could view Bamba a lot how Marvin Bagley III is being viewed in terms of not being much of a liability.
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The worst case scenario for a team that trades for Bamba is that he becomes a free agent and they do not re-sign him, but if they can get him for a low first-round draft pick or a second-round pick, trading for Bamba is definitely worthwhile.
