Assessing Bleacher Report’s Mo Bamba trade for Milwaukee Bucks
By Dalton Sell
The logic behind the Milwaukee Bucks trading for Mo Bamba
The Bucks currently have a Brook Lopez sized hole at the center position. Their starting center has played just one game this season after being sidelined with back soreness, and he will not be back anytime soon after undergoing back surgery last month. As they await Lopez’s potential return to the lineup this season, trading for someone like Bamba to give them a boost at the position would be reasonable.
Milwaukee’s current three-man center rotation consists of Bobby Portis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Sandro Mamukelashvili. Portis has been sensational filling in for Lopez as he is currently playing the best basketball of his career, averaging new career highs in several categories. On the other hand, Cousins has been far more up and down since the team recently brought him in. There are times where the big man will look fantastic, while others where he looks lost. Mamukelashvili is just a rookie, so the Bucks have not relied too heavily on him aside from brief spurts. Trading for a reputable center like Bamba to play behind Portis would make sense for Milwaukee.
Though Portis has been stellar as the temporary starting center, he has not managed to replicate the interior defense that Lopez typically would. On the other hand, Bamba is currently averaging a career-best 2.2 blocks per game for the Magic this season, protecting the rim at an elite level. The Bucks could use a player like that to try and fill in defensively while Lopez remains sidelined. While his defense would be welcoming, Bamba is also having a fantastic year offensively by averaging a career-high 10.3 points per game.
With a significant absence at the center position and someone with two-way play like Bamba out there, there is plenty of logic behind this move for the Bucks.