Los Angeles Lakers: Pass or pursue on three rumored trade targets
By Dalton Sell
Should the Los Angeles Lakers pass or pursue rumored trade target Mo Bamba?
The Los Angeles Lakers will be without All-Star big man Anthony Davis for the foreseeable future. He is set to miss four weeks with a calf injury stemming from his recent bout with Achilles tendonitis, which is a sizeable blow for this team.
The Lakers certainly do not want to rush Davis back after the scare he provided against the Denver Nuggets, where he reaggravated and gingerly limped off the court.
These unfortunate circumstances could force them to scour the market for a replacement in the meantime, and they reportedly have an interest in Mo Bamba from the Orlando Magic. The New York Post’s Marc Berman reported that both the New York Knicks and Lakers could look at Bamba after injuries to each team’s frontcourt.
The 22-year-old Bamba was the fifth pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and has not quite lived up to expectations. Over his three seasons in the league, the big man is averaging just 5.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 14.4 minutes per game. Numbers like that do not exactly jump off the page, but one area that Bamba could potentially help the Lakers in is their paint defense.
Los Angeles is giving up the 20th most points in the paint per game at 48.4, something that a sizeable presence like Mo Bamba could help clean up. Bamba has averaged 1.3 blocks per game over his first three seasons of his career, and that defensive prowess could pique the Lakers’ interest.
With Bamba on the books for just under $6 million this year, piecing together a potential deal could get tricky for LA financially, and they undoubtedly want to keep their key rotational pieces in the fold. For that reason, it seems unlikely that the Lakers would go out of their way to land Mo Bamba.