Orlando Magic: Grading Mohamed Bamba’s incomplete 2018-19
By Luke Duffy
Final Grade
A frustrating rookie season for Mohamed Bamba, who saw the Orlando Magic shoot up the standings and find consistency defensively only after he was lost to injury. The defensive numbers weren’t great as you would expect, with his offensive contribution on a nightly basis even worse.
Bamba’s season was about much more than raw numbers however, and growing pains were always to be expected. The hope now is that some time away from the court to watch film and bulk up will stand to him in the long run. The introduction of Markelle Fultz to this roster also takes some of the pressure off Bamba.
Less eyes will be on him, and with more of a defined role backing up Vucevic now that he has re-signed with the Magic (four years, $100 million), as opposed to auditioning too early in his career to see if he could replace “Vooch”, Bamba will be able to slide onto the second unit and grow at a more suitable pace.
Birch won’t give up minutes without a fight though, creating competition for Bamba. There were some nice moments in 2018-19, and to see him at least try and shoot the 3-point shot was encouraging, there is no doubt that he didn’t look fazed letting them go from deep.
The corner 3 in particular looks like it could be a future weapon and it was encouraging to see some of them go in for Bamba in year one.
But these were few and far between, and at only 21 he got lost in the shuffle of the Magic beginning to make some noise. Although this was his first season, he is also the same age as Isaac, who will be entering his third season and looks primed to make a leap.
Next. The 50 greatest NBA players of all time (updated for 2018-19). dark
Lots of work still to do then, but the organization will be confident that a noticeable improvement will be made this coming year. Hard to shake the fact they looked so much better without him though.