Mohamed Bamba Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Magic Notes: Bamba, Offseason, Restart

June 16th, 2020 at 2:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Rim protection may be something the Magic search for in the offseason, Josh Robbins and Seth Partnow write in a piece for The Athletic. Partnow, who previously served as the director of basketball research for the Bucks, believes Mohamed Bamba has the potential to be the defensive centerpiece for Orlando, but the former top-10 pick simply hasn’t put it all together through the first two years in the league. Having said that, Partnow would ultimately give Bamba more time in the hope that he can reach his potential.

Partnow also breaks down the definition of “rim protection,” lamenting that we all have the same broad definition: a player near the rim protects it. Yet, when diving into the stats, there are many assumptions and decisions evaluators have to make. Partnow explained that when he was in Milwaukee, he couldn’t find a metric that truly encapsulated rim protection even though there are stats that can help to narrow down the field of who’s good and who’s bad at it.

The whole article is really a fascinating look into how some front offices evaluate and it’s worth a read. Here’s more from that piece as well as notes from Orlando:

Khem Birch‘s natural position may be center, but the Magic have utilized him differently during the 2019/20 campaign, Robbins explains in that same piece for The Athletic. Birch split time between power forward and center, as injuries to Nikola Vucevic and Jonathan Isaac forced the team to play him at both spots. Coach Steve Clifford realized that Birch is not well equipped to play the four and that’s something to consider when looking ahead to Orlando’s offseason and the potential logjam at the center position between Vucevic, Birch and Bamba.
The Magic are focusing on conditioning as they await the restart of the season, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Orlando is one of 22 teams invited to the resumption of the 2019/20 season at Disney World.
Clifford believes his team could have an advantage when play resumes. “Hopefully we can get ready quicker, be one of the teams that has a great readiness to start after whatever period of time they give us to practice and play well and make some noise, and again, play meaningful games, which is what we all want to do,” Clifford said (via Parry’s piece).

Southeast Notes: Jordan, Bamba, Hawks, Draft

May 20th, 2020 at 8:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

While Michael Jordan was no longer the dominant MVP that he was in Chicago days, his stint with the Wizards showcased that he still had game, as I detailed on Heavy.com. Jordan became the oldest player (38) to score over 50 points in a game during year one in Washington and became the only player 40 or older to score over 40 in a game during his final season in the league.

Jordan made the All-Star Game during each of his two seasons in Washington but his individual success didn’t translate to the win column, as the club missed the playoffs on both occasions.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

Mohamed Bamba has been in the league for two years and the jury remains out on him. One scout tells Josh Robbins of The Athletic that the Magic center’s effort remains a concern. “But the question with Mo, and I think there’s no secret, is there are games when he plays with very low energy,” the scout said. “He just doesn’t seem to be able to turn it up to the level that he needs to consistently and play with a certain amount of energy for a sustained amount of time.”
Chris Kirschner of The Athletic examines the best draft strategy for the Hawks. The club has been aggressive over the past two drafts, moving around in the top 10 during each event. If Atlanta lands in the top five, as the team is currently projected to do, it may be best served staying put.
In a separate piece, Kirschner examines Atlanta’s salary cap situation. The Hawks are expected to have the most salary cap room in the NBA when the offseason arrives.

More Teams, Players Pledge To Support Arena Workers During Hiatus

March 16th, 2020 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

The list of teams and players who have vowed to help support arena workers who will lose wages during the NBA’s hiatus continues to grow. Here are several of the updates from the couple days:

The Bulls‘ ownership group, along with United Center ownership, announced that it will pay day-of-game employees through the remained of the originally scheduled season. The Nets issued a press release indicating they’ll do the same for hourly employees who worked games and events at Barclays Center. A team official said the Sixers are doing so too, tweets John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The Spurs announced the formation of a fund totaling $500K+ that will be used to pay its part-time employees through the rest of the season. The Hornets also established a fund to assist the organization’s part-time employees who had been scheduled to work Hornets and Greensboro Swarm games through the end of their respective seasons.
The Nuggets‘ ownership group pledged to pay its part-time and hourly employees for the next 30 days, per a press release.
Madison Square Garden has committed to paying event-driven employees, including those who work at Knicks games, through March 22 and is working to come up with a longer-term plan, per a memo obtained by Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The Suns, meanwhile, are paying their employees who were scheduled to work their two home games in March, noting that the staffing for their four home games in April hadn’t yet been finalized.
The Raptors said in a press release that they have joined forces with Toronto’s other sports franchises to create a fund for arena and stadium workers. “Being a good teammate means looking out for our neighbours, friends and the people we work with,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “Through this fund, we all pledge to be good teammates to our arena, stadium and support staff. We want to be here for them, the way they are always here for us.”
Following the lead of stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the rest of the Bucks‘ roster has also committed to making donations to impacted Fiserv Forum workers, per the team (Twitter link). Magic center Mohamed Bamba vowed to do the same for Amway Center employees (Twitter link).
Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns is making a $100K donation as well, but his money will be going to the Mayo Clinic, which is rolling out a test to detect the virus that causes COVID-19. “My hope is that we can fight this virus quicker and more efficiently by increasing the testing capabilities and availability and Mayo Clinic’s overall COVID-19 response,” Towns tweeted.

Magic Notes: Isaac, Fultz, Bamba, Fournier

January 6th, 2020 at 2:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic didn’t offer a specific return timetable for Jonathan Isaac when they issued an update on his left knee injury last week. However, the up-and-coming forward isn’t expected to be re-evaluated for eight-to-10 weeks, and Josh Robbins of The Athletic suggests Isaac will likely miss the rest of the 2019/20 season.

As Robbins writes in a separate story for The Athletic, Isaac’s absence will be a tough blow for a Magic team that had already played below its expectations in the first half. While Orlando currently holds the No. 8 seed, the team had hoped to move up in the standings after winning 22 of its final 31 games last season. Instead, the Magic are just 16-20 so far, and without perhaps their best defensive player, there’s no guarantee they’ll hang onto that postseason spot.

Here’s more on the Magic:

Despite his injury, Isaac is one of two Magic players viewed by Robbins as untouchable in trade talks, as The Athletic’s Orlando reporter details in his deadline primer. The second player? Markelle Fultz, whom team officials believe will continue to improve as a shooter and defender. It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the club trades either player, Robbins writes.
While Mo Bamba isn’t in the same untouchable tier as Isaac and Fultz, that doesn’t mean the Magic have any interest in moving him, according to Robbins, who suggests the team is unlikely to give up young players or first-round picks for a short-term fix, given the ceiling on this year’s roster.
The Magic face a similar dilemma with Evan Fournier that they did a year ago with Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross, Robbins observes. Vucevic and Ross were veterans headed for unrestricted free agency, but Orlando chose not to trade either player and eventually re-signed both. It’s not clear whether the team will head down a similar path with Fournier — Robbins speculates that the Magic will be open to inquiries but would insist on receiving high value in any deal.
Fultz has supplanted D.J. Augustin as the Magic’s starting point guard, but head coach Steve Clifford hasn’t hesitated to play the two guards together, and the results have been positive, writes Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com. Orlando has a 104.7 offensive rating and 106.1 defensive rating on the season, but those marks have improved to 111.4 and 101.9, respectively, when Augustin and Fultz share the court.

Magic Notes: Fultz, Bamba, Birch, Jefferson

November 3rd, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Arthur Hill

It only took six games for Markelle Fultz to crack the starting lineup in Orlando, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Magic head coach Steve Clifford called Fultz Saturday morning to tell him that he would be replacing D.J. Augustin as a starter for yesterday’s game against the Nuggets.

The reasons for the move go beyond a show of confidence in the top player taken in the 2017 draft. Clifford and his staff believe Fultz’s ability to get into the lane will create better scoring opportunities for the rest of the starting lineup, while Augustin provides another shooter for the second unit with Terrence Ross struggling to score.

“I don’t look too far back, but I’m taking baby steps,” Fultz said after the game. “That’s the biggest thing. I want to take it a step at a time, and I’m just checking stuff off my list. I’ve got to start small. My goal is high, but I’ve got to start with the basics.”

It’s a significant milestone after Fultz saw his season end last November because of thoracic outlet syndrome. Traded to the Magic in February after playing just 33 games in a year and a half in Philadelphia, Fultz has a chance to become a regular contributor for the first time in his NBA career.

There’s more news from Orlando:

Mo Bamba won’t be used in back-to-back games this season, Robbins tweets. The first instance came this weekend as he was held out of Friday’s game against the Bucks before playing last night. The Magic are being careful with their second-year center after a tibial stress fracture caused him to miss 30 games last year. Orlando has just 11 back-to-backs, tied for the lowest number in the league.
Reserve center Khem Birch, who has gotten into just two games so far, offered to go to the G League as a way to get playing time, according to John Denton of NBA.com (Twitter link). “How many guys would do that,” Clifford said. “He’s the best, the best.”
Amile Jefferson will make $9,156 per day while he’s on the Magic roster and will count as a $1.52MM cap hit, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Facing a Monday deadline to reach the 14-man roster minimum, Orlando converted Jefferson’s two-way deal to a standard contract on Friday.

Magic Notes: Fultz, Bamba, Augustin, Gordon

October 6th, 2019 at 10:23am CST by Arthur Hill

In his first game with the Magic, Markelle Fultz showed off some of the skills that made him the top pick in the 2017 draft, writes Roy Parry of The Orlando Sentinel. Playing for the first time since last November, Fultz had six points, four assists, two rebounds and an electrifying dunk in a win over the Spurs.

“It was really just a blessing,” Fultz said. “I give a lot of praise to the man up top, God. It’s all I can say. It was my first time out there in a long time and I’m just happy I was able to step out on the floor and compete.”

Orlando acquired Fultz from the Sixers in February after a frustrating season and a half in Philadelphia that was marked by physical issues and a jump shot that went haywire. His latest ailment, diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome, had kept him sidelined since last November 19. He received full medical clearance before camp opened and was determined to play in the preseason opener.

“It means the world to me just to see him out there,” teammate Mohamed Bamba said. “I asked him, ‘How you feeling?’ and he’s like, ‘I feel great. The game’s coming slower and it’s coming easier to me by the minute.’ It felt good to see him out there having fun.”

There’s more this morning from Orlando:

Bamba was also happy to be back on the court Saturday after missing the final 30 games of last season and the team’s playoff run with a foot injury, Parry notes in a separate story. After an 18-point, six-rebound and three-block performance, Bamba is optimistic about his sophomore campaign. “I had a lot of time to think about the upcoming season,” he said. “It’s just a preseason game and it doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but it felt good to get out there and just run with the guys.”
Coach Steve Clifford plans to use Fultz and D.J. Augustin together in the backcourt, Parry relays in another piece. Even though they’re both listed as point guards, Clifford believes Fultz’s ability to defend bigger players will make the combination work. “They’re both super-skilled,” he said. “They both play with a point guard mentality and then you’ve got two really good pick-and-roll players.”
Clifford also plans to play Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac together at center and power forward, tweets Dave DuFour of The Athletic.

Magic Exercise 2020/21 Options On Fultz, Isaac, Bamba

September 16th, 2019 at 2:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have exercised their rookie scale team options for the 2020/21 season on a trio of young players, the team announced today in a press release. Orlando picked up its fourth-year options on Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac, along with its third-year option on Mohamed Bamba.

The decisions on Isaac and Bamba don’t come as a surprise. Isaac had a promising sophomore season, averaging 9.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1.3 BPG while playing a key part in Orlando’s second-half defensive surge. His cap hit for the 2020/21 season will be $7,362,566.

Bamba, meanwhile, didn’t get a chance to play much in his rookie season after being selected sixth overall in the 2018 draft, as a tibia fracture sidelined him for most of the second half. However, third-year options are rarely turned down and Bamba’s $5,969,040 cap charge for ’20/21 is a very reasonable price as the Magic continue to see what they have in the young center.

The most notable decision here is the one on Fultz, whose fourth-year option is much pricier ($12,288,697) since he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2017. The young point guard still hasn’t appeared in a single game for the Magic since being acquired in a deadline deal last February. However, exercising his option signals that the team likes the progress he has made in his recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome.

Fultz is now the only Magic point guard under contract beyond this season. D.J. Augustin is in the final year of his contract, while Michael Carter-Williams is on a one-year deal.

In total, the option decisions increase the Magic’s projected 2020/21 team salary by over $25MM, reducing the team’s chances of creating any cap room next summer. Orlando now has more than $101MM in guaranteed money on its books for ’20/21, which doesn’t include Evan Fournier‘s $17.15MM player option. The cap is projected to come in at $116MM.

Teams have until October 31 to exercise rookie scale team options for 2020/21. Our tracker can be found right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mo Bamba Continues To Progress On The Sidelines

February 25th, 2019 at 8:51am CST by ChrisCrouse

Mohamed Bamba’s rookie season took a rough turn when tests revealed that he suffered a stress fracture in his left leg. However, the 7’0″ center sees a silver lining in the injury. Bamba tells Hoops Rumors that he believes his time off the court has given him a perspective that he may not have gotten otherwise.

“It gives you kind of a third eye,” Bamba explained. “Being out and having to watch your teammates perform and you see things that you wouldn’t see [if you were on the court].”

Orlando cannot afford to waste any time with Bamba’s development. Starting center Nikola Vucevic is a free agent at the end of the season and while the team wants to bring him back, the 28-year-old center will likely have many suitors. A Vucevic departure would thrust 2018’s No. 6 overall pick into a critical role.

Bamba, who remains in a walking boot, is optimistic that he will be able to play again this season. However, Orlando is taking a cautious, patient approach to managing his injury. Despite his inability to suit up, Bamba continues to stay engaged with the team in preparation for the next time he’s able to play.

Bamba’s rookie year hasn’t been a typical NBA freshman season. While he’s progressed on the court through his first 47 games in the league, he also saw off-court opportunities that most rookies don’t get to experience, including his appearance on HBO’s The Shop alongside LeBron James, rapper Drake, and other sports stars.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that not many people get to do. When I got word that they were thinking about me being there, I couldn’t believe it,” Bamba said of the chance to appear on the show. “…We talked about a lot [during the episode]. We talked about the game, the evolution of it and what we all attribute to that.”

The big man is also the subject of the successful rap anthem “Mo Bamba” by his childhood friend Sheck Wes. Wes, who only needed about 20 minutes to make the Bamba-inspired song, sent the audio track to the big man once his final version was complete, the 20-year-old tells Hoops Rumors. Despite the unique exposure, Bamba remains humble. Bamba added that he doesn’t feel any resentment from his teammates concerning his rap fame.

“I’m pretty sure if all the veterans on the team wanted their own song, they could do it,” Bamba said. “It’s nice to have something that a lot of people my age enjoy listening to.”

Mohamed Bamba To Miss Significant Time With Stress Fracture

February 7th, 2019 at 11:29am CST by marksuleymanov

FEBRUARY 7: While he didn’t provide details or an updated recovery timeline, Magic coach Steve Clifford said today that Bamba underwent a procedure on his injured left leg after all, per John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com (Twitter link).

FEBRUARY 5: Magic center Mohamed Bamba will miss significant time with a stress fracture in his left tibia, the team announced on Tuesday (Twitter link). The team confirmed a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Bamba would not undergo surgery.

“Thankfully, we caught this early and we are able to treat Mo without surgery,” Magic president Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “His return to action will depend on how he responds to treatment.”

Bamba, 20, has averaged 6.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 1.4 BPG for Orlando in 47 games (one start). The Magic drafted the New York native with their first-round pick (sixth overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft.

At 22-31, the Magic are currently three games back of the Heat for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. With the club’s postseason hopes dwindling, Orlando will likely take a cautious approach with Bamba.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, McGruder, Bamba, Briscoe

January 11th, 2019 at 5:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Even if the Wizards are granted an $8.6MM disabled player exception, they’re more likely to sign players to 10-day contracts than use that exception, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Washington applied for the exception due to John Wall‘s season-ending heel surgery.

The Wizards’ cap issues make it unlikely they’d find a free agent enticing enough to sign for the remainder of the season by using a portion of the exception. The Wizards inked point guard Ramon Sessions to a pair of 10-day contracts last season before signing him for the rest of the season, Hughes notes.

We have more from around the Southeast Division:

Shooting guard Rodney McGruder could lose his rotation spot if Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decides to expand Tyler Johnson‘s minutes, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in his latest mailbag. In that instance, Dion Waiters would start ahead of McGruder and Johnson would receive second unit minutes. Waiters returned from ankle surgery three games ago. McGruder has played fewer than 20 minutes in three of the last four games.
An MRI on rookie center Mohamed Bamba‘s sore foot showed no structural damage, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Magic coach Steve Clifford said Bamba is unlikely to play this weekend, Robbins adds. The sixth overall pick sat out against Utah on Wednesday.
Clifford is inclined to keep rookie Isaiah Briscoe in the Magic’s rotation as the backup point guard, Robbins reports in another tweet. Briscoe has averaged 17.5 MPG in the last two games, contributing 5.5 PPG and 3.5 APG. The undrafted Kentucky product has displaced Jerian Grant, who had been backing up D.J. Augustin. Briscoe’s salary is non-guaranteed after this season, while Grant could be an unrestricted free agent if the club doesn’t extend a $3.76MM qualifying offer.