With the trade deadline approaching, the Magic have not been particularly embroiled in rumors this season compared to last season, mainly because last season's Magic were considered to be teams that needed to hoe the earth into the rebuilding phase, and they did send out core players such as Nikola Vucevic before the trade deadline.
However, it would also be surprising if the Magic did not make any moves before this year's trade deadline, after all, the Magic still has some veteran players who can be put on the shelves, and even young players with good talent prospects can be put on the shelves.
Perhaps the most important question for the Magic ahead of this year's trade deadline is whether management will put rising star Mo Bamba on the shelves and push for a trade or let him continue the season, then consider whether to give Mo Bamba a new contract or let him leave as a free agent.
Magic must decide where Bamba will stay before the trade deadline
So far this season, MoBamba can be said to have played the best performance of his career. Statistically, Mo-Bamba averaged 10.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2 blocks in 26.4 minutes per game. Compared to the tough start to his career and injuries, and even the fact that he didn't get many chances under former Magic coach Steve Clifford's tactical system, it's really exciting that Mo Bamba can average 26.4 minutes of playing time in the current Magic rotation lineup.
It was only the Magic's move to send Nikola Vucevic and return to Wendel Carter Jr. before last season's trade deadline that cast fans doubt on Mo Bamba's future for the Magic. In fact, the magic's new head coach Jamal Mosley's decision this season to put Wendell Carter Jr. on top of the No. 4 position and partner mo bamba in the No. 5 position can be said to be an unexpected rotation arrangement, at least whether such a "twin tower" lineup can become the future core of the Magic's lineup is certainly a matter of doubt.
After all, Mo-Bamba and Windel Carter Jr. duo have only a net efficiency of -5.2 in 703 minutes of playing time, and they can only contribute 102 offensive efficiency to the Magic on the offensive end.
There is indeed a lot of room for improvement in Wendell Carter Jr.'s ability, but his ability to play against opposing interior players on the inside, low defense and rebounding also exposes the gradual decline in the importance of Mo Bamba in this Magic team, or the slow-growing Mo Bamba seems to have difficulty in seeing his future role in this Magic rotation lineup.
It's just that for the Magic, to give up on Mo Bamba, who was the 6th pick in the draft four years ago and has a good talent prospect, is definitely a risky move. Magic Basketball Operations President Jeff Weltman has made some big decisions about the future of the Magic over the past season and a half, and he needs to analyze MoMba's future in this Magic team and make a decision.
Trading Bamba?
Since Vucevic left the Magic, Mo Bamba has been able to get more play opportunities in this Magic team, and he can indeed have a more obvious improvement in statistics, but if Mo Bamba is to become a really good starting center player, he still has a lot of room to improve.
First of all, Mo-Bamba's rebounding ability has definitely yet to be proven. Mo-Bamba, who is only 23 years old, does have a 7-foot height and an arm span of 7'10, but he doesn't play a performance that matches this physical talent in rebounding. The problem is especially pronounced on the defensive end, where Mo-Bamba has averaged just 5.9 defensive rebounds per game so far this season, the 38th-most statistic in the league.
While Mo-Bamba does top the packs in terms of rebounding stats, only 26 percent of mo-bamba's rebounds are controversial defensive rebounds in terms of high-level stats, meaning that the remaining 74 percent of Bamba's rebounds are defensive rebounds that are not too challenging by his opponents, and his true defensive rebounding conversion rate is only the league's average.
So a small part of Mo-Bamba's rebounding comes from height and arm span and the opponent's attack after giving up rebounding, rather than rebounding after competing for the right position, and Bamba's performance can be attributed to the lack of ability to grab the board in the card slot. Statistically, Mo-Bamba has averaged just 1.6 card slots per game so far this season.
Limiting opponents' secondary scoring has always been a problem for the team this season, and in this statistic, the Magic's average of limiting opponents' secondary offensive points to 13.5 points per game is only able to rank 21st in the league. While such a performance can't be entirely attributed to Mo Bamba, his inability to have a good enough ability to grab rebounds in rebounding is also largely one of the factors that the Magic can't get better defensive rebounds and limit opponents' secondary scoring.
There is no doubt that MoBamba is indeed a player who can play efficiently on the inside, but for a player with his physical talent, he should definitely play a better performance than he currently does or deserve higher expectations.
The more interesting contrast is 2018's Winner DeAndre Ayton, who is an interior player of similar size to Mo Bamba, but he can often suppress players who are less physically talented than himself at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, compared to Mo Bamba, who rarely performs on the field.
On the offensive end, MoBamba does have an advantage, but he simply doesn't have the ability to make defenders feel threatened by scoring when he is singles behind his back, or his ability in this area is indeed limited. However, MoBaba's offensive style mainly includes the threat of air-to-air dunks and three-point shooting, but given the physical talent he has, he should definitely pay more attention to scoring on the inside back singles.
MoBamba's talent prospects are indeed still on the defensive end, but he has not shown enough ability to make up for other shortcomings on the offensive end. So if in the playoffs, if Bamba is not targeting a super center of the level of Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic, then he should at least put some pressure on the offensive end.
The Magic may not be able to break into the playoffs at this stage, but management must also consider whether Bamba can become the inside player the team wants to see in the future. If even management doesn't have confidence in this, then pushing his deal before the deal deadline is the best solution.
So if the Magic pushes for a deal involving Bamba before the deal deadline, what kind of return can the team actually get out of that potential deal?
In a potential deal involving Bamba, the Magic may be a reasonable expectation to return a young player with better prospects or draft picks, but Magic management must also figure out that the player in return will become a better player than Bamba in the next few years.
Of course, no matter which team is interested in a player like Bamba before this year's trade deadline, they need to bear the risk that Bamba could become a free agent this offseason and get big contract offers from other teams.
Leave Bamba behind?
Mo-Bamba's biggest "selling point" in the 2018 draft is his 7'10 arm span and his potential as a basket protector, at least so far in his career, magic should also feel Bamba's presence as a basket protector.
1. Defensive end
In terms of statistics, Mo-Bamba can rank 5th in the league with two blocks per game, and in simple terms, his ability to block on the inside makes most of the players who hit the Magic Paint need to consider the risk of being blocked by Bamba.
Keep in mind that the Magic have been able to limit their opponents' scoring to 44.2 points per game so far this season, and the presence and blocking ability of Bamba is undoubtedly an important factor in the Magic's ability to play at this level.
This also allows Bamba to bring defensive data performance such as +1.6 defensive victory contribution value and +1 defensive statistics table plus or minus value for the Magic.
Of course, given Bamba's height and arm span, he should probably have a better performance on those stats, but there's no denying that Bamba is indeed the player with a good defensive threat within the three-point line.
2. Offensive end
Bamba certainly doesn't have no advantage on the offensive end, that is, he lacks the ability to single with his back, but he has a very rare outside shooting ability for big players.
So far this season, Bamba has been able to shoot 34.4% of the three-point shooting data performance, although this is not a top outside threat in the modern league, but as a center player, Bamba is definitely a modern center who can open up space for the team. Among them, most of the shots outside the three-point line of Bamba are from the catch, and in this data, the bus can also have a 35.3% three-point shooting rate. As a center player, Bamba's ability to catch the ball just outside the three-point line is a rare talent for any team.
For example, in last month's loss to the 76ers, Bamba hit seven three-pointers in a single game and scored 32 points, which is enough to show that he is likely to continue to grow and become a better shooter in the next few years.
Not only that, but Bamba can also sometimes show dribbling and mid-range shooting ability, so with these bright spots on the bamba offensive end, the Magic also have to consider his value to the team before pushing such a player's trade. After all, whether it's three-point and mid-range shooting, or even the occasional dribbling ability, that could make Bamba an interior player with a consistent performance in these areas in the coming season.
Theoretically, there should be no hesitation in leaving such a player with the ability to open up space and provide solid basket protection, not to mention that he can indeed play a more stable performance with more opportunities this season.
It's just that the Magic already has a player like Wendell Carter Jr. who is more suitable for the center position of the top small ball, even if Carter prefers to stay in the No. 4 position, but the league trend has decided that sooner or later Carter will become the first choice for this Magic No. 5 position.
Because of this, The presence of Bamba could be the player who limits Carter's growth or even a bit of a bonus, so the Magic have to figure out what happens to the team if Bamba remains healthy and does continue to grow in the next few years, or whether management is willing to give Bamba another contract, especially if Wendell Carter Jr., Markle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac already have long-term contracts.
Write at the end
If magic can receive good first-round picks or offers from young players who are better suited to the Magic and have promising prospects before this year's trade deadline, then it would make sense to move forward with a deal involving Bamba.
But if the team can't receive a good enough offer, then to be honest, there is no need for management to push for a trade involving Bamba, and even the team can patiently watch Bamba grow in the rest of the season before making a final decision in the offseason.