Orlando Magic: Wait, maybe Mohamed Bamba can help?

The Orlando Magic‘s season has fallen apart in front of our eyes, with the only positives at this point the continued excellence of center Nikola Vucevic, and the fact that rookie Cole Anthony is learning on the job. This has meant mistakes for the youngster and an All-Star push for “Vooch”, and not much else.

Despite the clear lack of depth on the roster at the moment as a result of injuries to key players, somebody who was still not getting a look in was Mohamed Bamba. The third-year center, who has had some bad injury luck and was stricken with COVID, finding playing time hard to come by, despite there being a clear gap for him to come in and get some minutes.

Head coach Steve Clifford, who has long preferred leaning on veterans, instead opting to use a big man rotation of Vucevic and fan-favorite Khem Birch. The two have even seen some minutes on the court together well. This is all well and good, but with the season clearly going nowhere, the thinking by many fans was that this was the perfect time to give Bamba some run.

Whereas you could make the argument he was in a tough spot before and the organization had moved on without him, that is not the case at this moment. Right now the Magic need a spark from wherever they can get it. Then something unexpected happened. Bamba was given extended minutes in a loss to the Chicago Bulls and, he produced. This leaves us to wonder;

Could Mohamed Bamba end up helping the Orlando Magic after all?

Make no mistake, the extended run was not huge (12 minutes), but against his season average (6.6 minutes), it felt big. Not only that, but Bamba managed to put up 14 points as well, way beyond his season (or career) average of 5.4 points. He did this without making a 3-pointer, something which many thought he could turn into a somewhat consistent shot, but has not.

You could make the case that this was a once-off, and a puzzling one at that because Bamba also managed seven rebounds and three blocks during his time on the court, but something is starting to feel different. In two games against the Toronto Raptors last week, Bamba saw the court for three minutes on each occasion.

The first time out he had seven points (including a made shot from deep) in that small span. A couple of nights later, he didn’t manage a single point or do much of anything. This is hardly his fault though, it is hard to get any sort of consistency going when your minutes are few and varied.

Before that, however, in a game against the LA Clippers, Bamba had eight points and four rebounds in only six minutes. It is a strange occurrence to see him check into the game (because of how little he has been seen with the Magic), and then kind of make some things happen, before being pulled again.

The Bulls game was the exception, but you get the sense that perhaps Bamba taking his chance in those games against the Clippers and Raptors was what led to him getting the most run he has seen in a long time. All of these games were Orlando Magic losses, but that is hardly Bamba’s fault, especially as he’s still hardly really playing in these games.

But are we now beginning to reach a point where he could be legitimate help for the rest of the season, and beyond? It looked like his career with the Magic was over as recently as a couple of weeks ago. It is hardly saved as things stand, and yet ironically playing Bamba more now could actually improve his stock for a potential trade if needed as well. It’s a stock that was on the floor.

But although Birch is a floor-running big man who will diligently defend all day, he is as good as he is ever going to be. What that is to the Orlando Magic is a backup center who they rely on, and who they are grateful to have. But Bamba could bring something totally different, and whereas this has always been the thinking with him, lately he has shown it too.

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Having an impact on a depleted roster has to stand for something, there is no Markelle Fultz feeding him and no Jonathan Isaac alongside him stifling opponents (this feels like a long, long time ago now). Bamba can stretch the floor in ways Birch can’t, and although he’s still got a lean frame, he has bulked up some since entering the league.

His skill set is different, and at this point is something the Magic could clearly use in their quest to win games. Or, and this is more likely, the perfect opportunity to give Bamba one last chance on a roster that is headed back to the lottery. Imagine if he ended up being an ideal backup to Vucevic to start next season, with Fultz and Isaac coming back soon after? What an unexpected plus.

If nothing else Mohamed Bamba has shown in the last week plus that he still actually has something to give the Orlando Magic. Or failing that, to another franchise in the league. We were all quick to label him a bust, but at only 22 it looks like he is starting to get himself together. Now the hope is that coach Clifford will see it that way too, and let him play more.