Mohamed Bamba has developed a reputation of being the biggest boom or bust big men in the 2018 NBA Draft class. Is this actually a realistic label for him?
Lately, Mohamed Bamba has been all over the place in his pre-draft process, hanging out with Joel Embiid, doing interviews on ESPN and much more. Overall, Bamba is a player that has easily helped himself throughout the draft process. He is a very well spoken, smart and intelligent young man and that bodes well for how comfortable teams feel about selecting him.
Flashing back to his college basketball season, Mo Bamba received a smorgasbord of opinions on his NBA potential. He was criticized at times for not playing hard and looking disinterested on the court. The counterargument for the on and off motor during the season was his intelligence.
Bamba knew he was going to be a lottery selection and did not want to injure himself when he knew he was only going to play one year at Texas. As he’s proved in his wildly intelligent interviews, this most likely was the thought process about the college game.
He still enjoyed a solid freshman campaign at Texas. After the season, Bamba went to work with Drew Hanlen, a trainer with a wildly popular reputation in player development. Most recently, Bamba put up inhuman measurements at the NBA Draft Combine.
The biggest question that still lurks around Bamba since the beginning of the season remains: Is he a boom or bust prospect? When it comes to developmental big men, especially projected in a the top 5-8 range that Bamba is, that label can sometimes be the kiss of death.
Here’s a breakdown of Bamba’s game with some strengths, weaknesses and overall outlook so you can decide for yourself whether he is a boom or bust prospect — or if Mohamed Bamba has a legitimate floor as a future NBA player.