OKC Thunder trade target No. 3) Mo Bamba
Last but certainly not least, we have the 7-foot wunderkind found far down on the bench for the Orlando Magic, Mo Bamba.
Since my arrival here at Thunderous Intentions, I’ve been very vocal about my intrigue in the idea of Bamba coming to the Sooner State.
It’s been just about three months now and, still, I believe it to make more and more sense as the days go by.
Author of the Bleacher Report article, Greg Swartz, sees a bright future for the 22-year-old but acknowledges that Orlando may not be the place for him to shine:
"Bamba has elite shot-blocking potential with his 7’10” wingspan, yet the Magic are dead set on playing their vets in what’s become a lost season. The 22-year-old has the tools to become an effective three-point shooter along with his defensive ceiling."
To us at TI, Bamba has proven that he is deserving of an increase in minutes within the rotation and, yet, he still finds himself at the backend of Steve Clifford’s bench.
In less than seven total minutes logged on average this season, the big man has been posting a measly 5.4 points, three rebounds, and just shy of a block per game on 63 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent shooting from deep.
Per-36 minute conversions, these numbers shift to a ludicrous 29.9 points, 17.1 rebounds, and a whopping 3.7 blocks per game.
When being bestowed a little uptick in minutes with 10-19 a game this year Bamba is averaging 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds & 1.3 blocks per game on 63 percent shooting from the floor.
When digging a bit deeper we find that the last time he actually played in substantial minutes (20-29 range) was last season, where he averaged 10 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor and 70 percent shooting from downtown.
In short, we stand by our beliefs that we’ve had about Mo Bamba coming to the OKC Thunder over these past several months: bring him on!