Magic do NOT extend a Qualifying Offer to Mo Bamba

[Skin]

Read on Twitter

?t=K87tIwfkqB--oZrEGv75LA&s=19

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He really is going to be a better player. Lot of people have a bad taste for him because we lived through his developmental years.

The Front Office is really going to have to show smarts about using their cap space in order to justify losing him for nothing. We didn't need to make this move in order to get Hartenstein.

[tiderulz]

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1716999

It was fun going through the first 50 or so pages of this.

My biggest takeaway was how pro-Young most of us were. I had forgotten how even up to the afternoon of the draft most of us thought Young was a certainty and even Woj had him dropping to us. Then the ATL trade happened.

Those are the type of developments that can set your franchise back years. I think most of us knew it. We just couldn’t catch a break last rebuild. Luckily, this one is starting off much better.

man, pages 50-70 have some real eye opening statements that did NOT age well

[basketballRob]

M. Wagner isn't a backup center. He's a end of the bench player.

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[swarlesbarkley]

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1716999

It was fun going through the first 50 or so pages of this.

My biggest takeaway was how pro-Young most of us were. I had forgotten how even up to the afternoon of the draft most of us thought Young was a certainty and even Woj had him dropping to us. Then the ATL trade happened.

Those are the type of developments that can set your franchise back years. I think most of us knew it. We just couldn’t catch a break last rebuild. Luckily, this one is starting off much better.

That was a fun trip down memory lane and a huge ego boost since I was all in on Luka, Trae, MPj, and SGA. Luka and Trae obviously went before our pick but either of MPj or SGA probably puts us on a different trajectory entirely.

And hey - Paolo was my #1 this year so we're gonna be great!

[ucfmay2000]

Read on Twitter

Would anyone here want Bamba over Hartenstein? The answer to that question defines the logic of this thread's title.


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You also need to ask at what price?

[Message Boar]

Hartenstein would be a nice add. He had a strong season as a bench big last season. I'll be interested to see what his market is.

Kinda sad about losing an asset in Bamba, but I can see why they did it, with the cap hold and all. Excited to see how they use the space, even though it might just be to rent it out to other cap-needy teams in exchange for future assets.

[penny_nz]

All the physical tools, just not the motor to make the most of it. Hope he finds that elsewhere. Has to be considered a big swing and miss with the #6

[Howard Mass]

Back in 2018, i wanted Trae Young badly in The Draft. I also liked Luka Doncic and Mo Bamba.

When Mo Bamba was taken, it was assumed Nikola Vucevic would be shipped out.

Then, Nikola Vucevic took off and Bamba was stuck behind him and injured. Both stunted his growth.

With the frontcourt loaded as it is now and Bamba pretty much guaranteed to be a backup for the duration of any contract he signs.

I'd like Mo Bamba to stay but I think he might want to move on to some place he could possibly start. I also don't want to sign a backup to too big of a contract.

It would be great if a sign and trade happened but also would not be surprised if The Magic are planning to use their cap space to accumulate assets in Trades.

As for the pick in 2018, even though I liked Bamba, I had some questions about whether it was the right pick.

Wendell Carter Jr. was more of a finished protect to me and I wanted someone with more upside. Looks like I was wrong there.

Michael Porter Jr. had injury issues and still does. He would have gone top-3 if he did not.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was someone I liked as a sleeper.

Mikal Bridges was someone I really liked.

Kevin Knox interested me a bit.

I was never really high on Colin Sexton.

Anfernee Simons was someone I liked if The Magic had a lower pick.

In hindsight, there were better choices. At the same time, Vucevic's emergence did stunt Bamba's growth a bit.

If he leaves, it would be nice to get something for him but I think WeltHam has a plan.

[Skybox]

Let's not bury him yet. Magic still have every option on the table.

[Bensational]

Waste of an asset. They clearly never planned to keep him past this season so they should have moved him for something in return and at a much earlier juncture.

I’m expecting to see him end up in Phoenix, Dallas and maybe even GSW or Brooklyn.

[Ducklett]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

[The Real Dalic]

Can you share the link to that thread? I recall I was anti-Bamba pre-draft (I called him the next Hasheem Thabeet and was excoriated for that comparison) and I think I wanted to trade back to get the 2 Clippers picks at the end of the lottery and take SGA. But I could be remembering wrong to make myself feel better

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1717089

This one didnt have that many replies but the main draft thread was here:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1716999

My opinion hasn't changed from day 1 on Bamba. I didn't like it then, I still don't now. I didn't want a C that year since I always liked Vuc and always believed in him.

Edit: Plus we always did and still do need a true go-to scorer. Hoping that will be Paolo!

[Nyce_1]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

Skin and few others bought into Mikal Bridges.

[drsd]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

I was screaming "trade-down". New York at 9 was plausible. And there is no doubt Gilgeous-Alexander would have been a major consideration at that slot.

Oh well. At least Orlando found that Mr. #7 would be a good player on this team.


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[swarlesbarkley]

All the physical tools, just not the motor to make the most of it. Hope he finds that elsewhere. Has to be considered a big swing and miss with the #6

Plenty of other top 6 pick busts since 2017:
Josh Jackson
Marvin Bagley
Jarrett Culver

And expand to top 10:
Frant Ntilikina
Dennis Smith Jr.
Kevin Knox
Cam Reddish
Killian Hayes
Jalen Smith

Seems pretty common now for a few top guys to flame out within a couple years. Bamba seemed like an obvious miss from the night of the draft, though.

We still have the #1 pick from 2017, the #6 pick from 2017, the #7 pick from 2018, the #5 pick from 2021, the #8 pick from 2021, and the #1 pick from 2022 on our roster. Not bad.

[Skin]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

Skin and few others bought into Mikal Bridges.

Yep, I created "The case for Mikal Bridges" thread. I dreamt for Trae, but did not have high hopes of him falling. Bridges was my realistic hope. I supported the Bamba pick (because I wanted to move on from Vuc). I thought Bridges and Isaac were long term winning pieces.

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1700041&hilit=the+case

[JKelt613]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

Wouldnt argue 20 ppg for his career on 38% from 3 instead of what we got

[The Effect]

M. Wagner isn't a backup center. He's a end of the bench player.

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He'd even be bench player in europe

[The Effect]

Lets not pretend that you guys weren't calling for us to draft Collin Sexton with that pick. Yall's revisionist history is hilarious.

I was hoping for MPjr
Still stand by that

[Last Guardian]

Vuc was trash so I probably loved the Bamba pick. But Bamba also turned out to be trash. You have to be insanely good offensively if you're going to be abysmal defensively and get away with it at C.

I'm fine moving on from him. With it had worked out, 7'10 wingspan is the stuff of dreams for protecting the paint. Too bad he couldn't make use of it.