Outside of signing Patrick Beverley, the Philadelphia 76ers have been relatively quiet during free agency this offseason. Well, that was until Adrian Wojnarowski dropped one of his famous “Woj bombs”.
Free agent C Mo Bamba has agreed on a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, @PrioritySports’ Mark Bartelstein and agent Greer Love tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2023
That’s right, the Sixers added another center to their depth chart in Mo Bamba. It should be noted Wojnarowski also tweeted that the team still plans to retain restricted free agent Paul Reed who had a breakout season with Philly this past season.
What does Bamba bring to the Philadelphia 76ers?
The 7-footer was the sixth overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2018 draft. Considering he’s signing a one-year deal with the 76ers, it’s fair to say he never lived up to the hype of that pick. That being written, Bamba does provide solid depth to his new franchise.
Bamba’s a solid shot blocker and stretches the floor with his 3-point shot. For his career, he’s averaged 7.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 35.9 percent from the 3-point line.
Looking at his stats alone, one could argue that he should get minutes over Reed. However, the biggest flaw in Bamba’s game isn’t his skill but it’s his basketball I.Q. Bamba was been stuck on an unstable rebuilding team in Orlando until the middle of last season when the Los Angeles Lakers traded for him.
Bamba needs to have a strong head coach who can develop young players like Nick Nurse and learning from MVP Joel Embiid can only help the 25-year-old big man. However, the potential of the big man is there. He had a career-high 32 points on 7-8 shooting from the 3-point line against the 76ers.
If the Philadelphia 76ers can unlock Bamba as a 3-and-D center that would be great, but if not, he’s still good enough to be a third-string center on this roster.