https://youtu.be/qQ1JHSIAGt0
Nikola Vucevic is now out of Orlando, and, finally, for the first time ever, Mo Bamba is being properly prioritized in the rotation. With few feasible big men on the roster, there really isn’t any choice for coach Clifford, but, still, it’s nice that Bamba is getting the type of consistent role that he has not really gotten up to this point. And it’s nice to see that Clifford doesn’t hate Bamba’s guts to the point where he just benches Bamba permanently for no reason, even when faced with gaping holes in the rotation. Clifford hates all young players now and forever, so I wouldn’t put it past him.
That’s not to say that Bamba necessarily deserved a more consistent role while the Magic were making their pathetic attempts at being “competitive”. They had their core, and they had their goal (getting blown out as the 8th seed year after year), and those things were more important than turning their raw lottery-pick big man into a productive NBA player. With Vucevic emerging as an All-Star, did it really make sense to wrest minutes away from him just to give it to this bench player who was 10% as productive?
Khem Birch factors into this scenario, but I’m not sure exactly how, other than he was probably stealing minutes from Bamba. Honestly, if Bamba couldn’t displace Birch from the rotation, and Clifford was making rational minutes-allocation decisions based solely on each player’s ability to help the team win games, then that’s a huge indictment of Bamba’s skill level. Because Birch just isn’t that good, and it’s not like he even has that much more NBA experience than Bamba does.
Forget all the negativity! Bamba’s busting out right now! Hitting threes, hitting hook shots, blocking the feeble shot attempts of his feeble opponents, playing with a freedom and vigor previously unseen in his career. Him and Cole Anthony are the new Stockton-Malone, if Malone had three-point range and if Stockton had a cool pharaoh-lookin’ haircut, and if Stockton and Malone were both borderline busts.