Boston Celtics: “Agree or Disagree” on list of trade targets Cs should avoid
By Mark Nilon
Player Boston Celtics should avoid No. 2) Mo Bamba
Seemingly since my arrival to the site, I have been preaching from the house of the 7-0 Massiah, hoping that Boston’s front office will answer my prayers and bring Mo Bamba to Massachusetts.
It’s been just about two years now and, still, such a move has yet to be made.
While I still sit here hoping the Celtics & Magic can someday come to a deal involving the third-year center, Buckley believes he should not to be touched by Beantown:
"Bamba, 22, needs a chance. Maybe he’d prove overdrafted if he got one. Or perhaps his tremendous length and soft shooting touch could make him an impact big for the modern NBA. It’s impossible to know whether he’d survive in the deep end when Orlando has refused to give him an opportunity to sink or swim. That uncertainty should make him an intriguing buy-low candidate for some club, but the Celtics aren’t that team."
To us at HH, Bamba, albeit in short spurts, has proven worthy of receiving ample playing time in the rotation and, yet, he still finds himself collecting dust on Steve Clifford’s bench.
The former sixth overall pick back in 2018 has started just one game during his three-year career and averages only 15.3 minutes during this span.
In just a measly 6.6 minutes so far this season, Bamba has posted averages of 5.4 points, three boards, and just shy of a block per game on 63 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent shooting from deep.
Are these stats eye-popping? Of course not!
However, convert these numbers into per-36 minute averages and we see the 22-year-old averaging 29.9 points, 17.1 rebounds, and a whopping 3.7 blocks per game.
Yes, we know what your follow-up to this will be: you can’t base a player’s potential on per-36 minute averages.
We totally agree with that!
However, it’s not just these conversions that have us believe he has the potential to produce productively with more minutes… it’s his actual production when given more minutes.
When registering just a bit of an increase in minutes with 10-19 a game this season — albeit on just three occasions — Bamba is averaging 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds & 1.3 blocks per game on 63 percent shooting from the floor.
If we want to go a bit further, the last time he logged substantial playing time (20-29 minutes) was last season, where, during these games, he posted 10 points, 6.8 rebounds & 2.5 blocks per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor, an unbelievable 70 percent shooting from deep and a box plus/ minus rating of 5.8.
To “avoid” a talent like Mo Bamba would be absolutely foolish for the Boston Celtics to consider in the Houdini’s humble opinion.
At the very least, the front office — like we always implore them to do — should give Orlando a call about the young giant.