Should Bamba Remain in the Rotation

[thelead]

Mo is averaging 6ppg, 5rpg and 1.4bpg in 16mpg and with a PER of 15.

If you think the 20 year old rookie sucks and shouldn’t be in the rotation you can stop giving your opinion about basketball now.

[BLACKFEET 2010]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

[BLACKFEET 2010]

Why??
And I ask because I don’t have as close a view of him obviously as you guys do. But from afar he looks like a future stud. What am I not understanding?
I come in peace.

[j-ragg]

Why??
And I ask because I don’t have as close a view of him obviously as you guys do. But from afar he looks like a future stud. What am I not understanding?
I come in peace.

Basically there's a fork in the road ... one path leads to re-signing Vucevic and running it back with minor tweaks. The other leads to Bamba getting more minutes and developing younger players while looking to trade some of the older vets.

Since Vuc is an all-star, the thought is that the Magic wouldn't trade him/let him walk. Which leads to trying to win more, which leads to trade scenarios for the recent lotto pick at his position.

I personally think it's crazy to go all-in on a guy who's going nuts during his contract year but some want to re-sign him to 30 million a year so there are quite the range of opinions on it here.

In reality our management won't do anything for either fork in the road and will just keep trying to win 30 games.

[BLACKFEET 2010]

Why??
And I ask because I don’t have as close a view of him obviously as you guys do. But from afar he looks like a future stud. What am I not understanding?
I come in peace.

Basically there's a fork in the road ... one path leads to re-signing Vucevic and running it back with minor tweaks. The other leads to Bamba getting more minutes and developing younger players while looking to trade some of the older vets.

Since Vuc is an all-star, the thought is that the Magic wouldn't trade him/let him walk. Which leads to trying to win more, which leads to trade scenarios for the recent lotto pick at his position.

I personally think it's crazy to go all-in on a guy who's going nuts during his contract year but some want to re-sign him to 30 million a year so there are quite the range of opinions on it here.

In reality our management won't do anything for either fork in the road and will just keep trying to win 30 games.

Got it.
So let me show you around a little....

Frank is a top notch perimeter defender.
Offensively he’s as timid and deliberate as it gets.
And when he does look for his offense it tends to take away from his defensive focus. Like on the following play, like every time. If he’s relegated to doing what he does and playing off fellow Frenchman Fournier per se, he could thrive as a secondary playmaker and head of the snake on defense. I think your coach would like him. But he’s frustrating as he is tantalizing to watch.
He shows flashes on offense but he loses his confidence quickly. He WILL though do enough defensively alone to stay on the court.

Honestly, the Knick organization has done a horrible job developing him but he also hasn’t forced their hand in albeit limited opportunities. He’s long and full of upside. He’s just in the wrong hands for who he is.

Mudiay.
He has become a mid range master. Seriously.
Maybe it’s contract year motivation, we dunno but he’s making shots. He actually has reliable go-to offense in the half court. He’s finishing better around the basket and hitting big shots. BUT he doesn’t look to make others better, he’s sloppy with the ball and defensively he’s indifferent if I’m being kind. But he’s scoring and playing with more confidence now. He’s intriguing though. And at 22 he has a lotta upside he’s just now realizing.

He’s not an analytic darling and he’s not the athlete he was billed to be. He gets where he wants whenever he wants but again, sloppy and iffy finisher. He needs the ball and minutes to play through his mistakes. He’s still a project. Being honest he probably won’t help you win. But he is a youngish point guard who’s starting to figure it out a little. I know you guys are PG hunting.

Vonleh is a plug and play front court guy that can do a little of everything. He’s an athletic brute with some finesse to his game. He’s a dollar store Draymond. Ambitious as a shooter and playmaker but still lacking feel. He’s been our most complete player all year; stuffs a stat sheet. Defensively he has great feet and he’s cut down on his silly fouls. He’s an expiring that could help a playoff team. He’s young enough to consider resigning and adding to a young core too. We probably ask him to do too much but in a limited and clearer defined role he’s be a positive fromtcourt contributor.

Frank, Mud, Vonleh....you could have all three for Mo.
I think your coach would want them, your new GM maybe wouldn’t at least not for Mo. Maybe Frank for less which we wouldn’t do. And you guys would be mad that you traded his potential for our misfit toys.
But they all have a level of intrigue.

[darthmerrick]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

[BLACKFEET 2010]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

Ok, ok. Got it.
Didn’t know about the character concerns.
Offensively does he show promise?

[j-ragg]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

Ok, ok. Got it.
Didn’t know about the character concerns.
Offensively does he show promise?

Character issues is a little strong. He was late for a practice so he sat out 1 game then owned up to it. He seems like a good, young kid. Really well-spoken. Definitely does get pushed around a lot, can't post up pretty much anyone even on switches.

His jumper looks good though, better than I would've thought before this year. It's tough to gauge how good he'll be offensively because he's so frail. I would imagine not that much different than Mitchell Robinson in that sense. He needs a nutritionist and a couple of offseasons until we'll know what he'll look like offensively imo.

I'd give him up in a deal for DSJ but not for Mudiay/Vonleh/Frank.

[BLACKFEET 2010]

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

Ok, ok. Got it.
Didn’t know about the character concerns.
Offensively does he show promise?

Character issues is a little strong. He was late for a practice so he sat out 1 game then owned up to it. He seems like a good, young kid. Really well-spoken. Definitely does get pushed around a lot, can't post up pretty much anyone even on switches.

His jumper looks good though, better than I would've thought before this year. It's tough to gauge how good he'll be offensively because he's so frail. I would imagine not that much different than Mitchell Robinson in that sense. He needs a nutritionist and a couple of offseasons until we'll know what he'll look like offensively imo.

I'd give him up in a deal for DSJ but not for Mudiay/Vonleh/Frank.

Ok. And yeah predraft time he was killing interviews and seems like a really good kid. Really intelligent and thoughtful. We havent even gotten DSJ on the court for us to know what we think we have in him.

Good luck with your season.
I hope you guys make the playoffs and give somebody a scare.

[Xatticus]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

Ok, ok. Got it.
Didn’t know about the character concerns.
Offensively does he show promise?

I disagree with that scouting report. I know nothing of his character concerns. He was suspended for being late for something and apologized immediately. Aside from that, any character issues are pure speculation as far as I know.

The game is too fast for Bamba at the moment. He is pretty much always a step slow. He still accumulates a good number of blocks due to his length, but he hasn't been good defensively. His hands have been sketchy. He just never seems to be ready to receive a pass. The shot is a bit slow, but he isn't shy and it looks fluid and consistent. The 3P% is low, but he has hit a relatively high percentage from beyond 16 feet. Those aren't ideal shots, but it's enough to give you confidence in his shot despite the 3P and FT percentages. He doesn't have a post game, but he finishes easily around the basket. He can use a dribble to cover ground and get to the basket, but if the ball is in his hands for any amount of time, it will get poked free or stripped. His fundamentals are rather poor and he never seems to go full speed.

Considering how raw he is, his per 36 numbers are a source of optimism. Our point guards do nothing to help our young bigs at the offensive end. Clifford is terrific at building bigs and I have little doubt that Bamba will improve considerably over the next couple seasons, but I don't love him as a prospect.

[basketballRob]

Bamba should earn his minutes. Look what happened to players like EP the magic gave him for granted his spot and never progressed. Not only the case for bamba imo every player needs to prove himself and earns his minutes. If you don't then you are not worth enough for the nba. Simple as that.

Sent from my 6045B using RealGM mobile app

I thought he won the backup in training camp?

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

[basketballRob]

Y’all want Frank Ntilikina for him?

Mudiay? Both??

Y’all seriously thinking about giving up on him?

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

Most here are big Vuc fans and call Mo out for every little thing. I think he would be better off somewhere else

[fendilim]

I think we'd want either Dennis Smith Jr. or a first round pick for him if he was going to NY. He's not NBA ready this year (body) and we already have an allstar center. He's shown some character issues (pouting about playing time, showing up late for practice), he fouls alot, and is real skinny. But he is still one heck of a prospect. Shows great defensive awareness and can hit from three...just gets pushed around because he has to bulk up.

I do think Magic are shopping him because they want to resign Vucevic, but I don't think they would let him go for low offers. They would look for a clear upgrade to PG (Holiday, DSJ, Conley, Walker) if they were to trade him.

Ok, ok. Got it.
Didn’t know about the character concerns.
Offensively does he show promise?

I disagree with that scouting report. I know nothing of his character concerns. He was suspended for being late for something and apologized immediately. Aside from that, any character issues are pure speculation as far as I know.

The game is too fast for Bamba at the moment. He is pretty much always a step slow. He still accumulates a good number of blocks due to his length, but he hasn't been good defensively. His hands have been sketchy. He just never seems to be ready to receive a pass. The shot is a bit slow, but he isn't shy and it looks fluid and consistent. The 3P% is low, but he has hit a relatively high percentage from beyond 16 feet. Those aren't ideal shots, but it's enough to give you confidence in his shot despite the 3P and FT percentages. He doesn't have a post game, but he finishes easily around the basket. He can use a dribble to cover ground and get to the basket, but if the ball is in his hands for any amount of time, it will get poked free or stripped. His fundamentals are rather poor and he never seems to go full speed.

Considering how raw he is, his per 36 numbers are a source of optimism. Our point guards do nothing to help our young bigs at the offensive end. Clifford is terrific at building bigs and I have little doubt that Bamba will improve considerably over the next couple seasons, but I don't love him as a prospect.

Didnt AG get suspended in his rookie yr for being late too?

[pepe1991]

I expected more of defensive impact right away with more advanced offense.

In expetations of Embiid he looks more of a Noel... Well at least he ain't Jah...

[drsd]

``In our case study, we found that of the 25 guys (with tibial stress fractures), 24 of those guys never saw a reoccurrence of this injury. So, I like my chances with the protection from the injection,’’ Bamba said.

NBA.com link


/..

[J_Magic]

Bamba is gonna be a bust man.

PS. I thought Doncic would turn out like Henzonja.

[J_Magic]

He should work on his upper body strength and perfect his shooting for next season.