Magic Draft Mohamed Bamba with Sixth-overall Pick

The Orlando Magic drafted Texas Longhorns center Mohamed Bamba with the sixth-overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft on June 21.

“We are elated to get Mo Bamba,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said, per an Orlando Sentinel article by Josh Robbins. “We jumped through the roof when he was available, and we look forward to a very bright future with Mo.”

With a 7-foot-10 wingspan, Bamba offers length and a strong, interior presence that the Magic have sorely needed. Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Orlando has ranked among the bottom half of the league in defensive rating and opposing points per game.

Bamba’s 3.7 blocks per game for Texas ranked second in the country behind only Marshall Herd center Ajdin Peneva and his 3.9 blocks per game.

The New York City, New York, native brings more than a stalwart presence in the paint, though. Bamba can contribute a steady flow of offense, having scored 12.9 points per game on nine field-goal attempts per game in his lone collegiate season.

In 30 games, 29 starts and 30.2 minutes per game last season, Bamba shot 54.1 percent from the field, including 14-for-51 (27.5 percent) from 3-point range. At only 1.5 turnovers per game, Bamba is also cautious with the ball.

“I really still can’t really describe how I feel, right now,” Bamba said, per Robbins. “It’s just all that hard work, all the anticipation of this — it finally paid off.”

Bamba joins a Magic roster that already has centers Nikola Vučević, Bismack Biyombo and Khem Birch, as 6-foot-10 Marreese Speights will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Vučević has been the Magic’s go-to 5 since center Dwight Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2012-13 season. For the Magic, he has averaged 16 points per game, 10.4 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game. As statistics go, offense was never Vučević’s weak spot.

His defense, however, was another matter. With only 2.3 defensive win shares in the 2017-18 season, Vučević did not make the league’s top-20 list that had eight centers and was topped by Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond. The 7-footer has also averaged just one block per game in his time in Orlando.

Biyombo helps make up for Vučević’s deficiencies on the defensive end. He has been a reliable bench player, averaging 20.2 minutes per game and missing only one of his 164 games over the past two seasons. In Orlando, Biyombo has averaged 1.1 blocks per game, too, leading the team with 1.2 blocks per game last season.

As for Birch, he played in his first National Basketball Association season in the 2017-18 campaign, appearing in 42 games without a start. He averaged 4.2 points per game, snagged 4.3 rebounds game and blocked 21 shots on the season. His role grew as the season ended, as Birch appeared in the final 17 games.

With Bamba’s skill set, he will, perhaps, assume the starting-center role. His length on the defensive end and focus on interior scoring could work well with the mid-range versatility of Vučević, who is also a capable inside scorer.

Vučević, however, is on the last year of his contract. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Biyombo, who is owed $4.25 million more than Vučević’s $12.75 million, is under contract until the 2020 summer when he will become an unrestricted free agent.

“The sky’s the limit,” Weltman said. “I think [Bamba’s] already shown that he has the potential to be an elite defender. And I can tell you from a scouting perspective [that] when you watch Mo play, you look at his feet, his hands, his frame, his anticipation, and you kind of start to think about the things that he could become.

“And you also envision in an NBA game where he’s not maybe used in the post but as a roller, as a vertical spacer. This is where the league is for big guys, now.”

The Magic finished last season 25-57, their worst record since the 2014-15 season with the same record. They have also missed the playoffs the past six seasons, a franchise record.

For more on the Magic, as they prepare for the rest of the offseason, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

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