Will Mo Bamba be here next season?

That_Casual · Post #1 » by **That_Casual** » Sun Apr 2, 2023 12:45 pm

Will Bamba still be here next season?

Non guaranteed deal. Do they waive him? Trade him? Or just keep him as back up center?

ROballer · Post #2 » by **ROballer** » Sun Apr 2, 2023 1:28 pm

No way they pay 10 mil for him.

Remember, Gabriel was eating at his minutes even before the injury.

He was a 10-14 mpg guy at most. With the need to resign a bunch of players and thus pay a consistent luxury tax bill, he's 100% gone.

His role is a minimum guy level salary role. It can be filled up by such a guy with no problems.

Showtime:Part2 · Post #3 » by **Showtime:Part2** » Sun Apr 2, 2023 1:52 pm

How do u know he won’t resign for the min? Who wants him that badly lol

That_Casual · Post #4 » by **That_Casual** » Sun Apr 2, 2023 2:52 pm

ROballer wrote:No way they pay 10 mil for him.

Remember, Gabriel was eating at his minutes even before the injury.

He was a 10-14 mpg guy at most. With the need to resign a bunch of players and thus pay a consistent luxury tax bill, he's 100% gone.

His role is a minimum guy level salary role. It can be filled up by such a guy with no problems.

So just waive him? Or use his $10m expiring in a trade?

Pythagoras · Post #5 » by **Pythagoras** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 2:41 am

That_Casual wrote:
ROballer wrote:No way they pay 10 mil for him.

Remember, Gabriel was eating at his minutes even before the injury.

He was a 10-14 mpg guy at most. With the need to resign a bunch of players and thus pay a consistent luxury tax bill, he's 100% gone.

His role is a minimum guy level salary role. It can be filled up by such a guy with no problems.

So just waive him? Or use his $10m expiring in a trade?

I’d try to package him and Beasley in a trade. Looking at either Bogdanovic or Hield as trade targets. That way you could hedge against losing either Rui or DLo this offseason.

Personally I think Rui is pretty expendable (even though I like him as depth).

Vae Victus · Post #6 » by **Vae Victus** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 2:49 am

Can we trade him early in the offseason and the new team that gets him can waive his non guaranteed deal? That makes him a much more appealing trade asset as it helps his new team save cap immediately. Bamba should be healthy by the playoffs right? If the lakers manage to go deep, he might show he has some future value for the team.

That_Casual · Post #7 » by **That_Casual** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 11:57 am

Vae Victus wrote:Can we trade him early in the offseason and the new team that gets him can waive his non guaranteed deal? That makes him a much more appealing trade asset as it helps his new team save cap immediately. Bamba should be healthy by the playoffs right? If the lakers manage to go deep, he might show he has some future value for the team.

Only guaranteed amount count in trades so we’d need to guarantee the deal then trade him

stan francisco · Post #8 » by **stan francisco** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 12:57 pm

I’d say the jury is still out. If he comes back before the Finals, we’ll get to see if he should stay. To me, the sample size is not enough.

If we win it all, he’ll probably walk to an overpaying team. If we get bumped he might stay with us on the cheap.

His offense will fit in well over time but he’s still rough. He needs time, so I’d offer him a long term development deal where his pay isn’t max but his long term outlook is good. His pay can escalate when his play escalates but I wouldn’t gamble on him too big just yet.

Post #9 » by **Kilroy** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 2:56 pm

ROballer wrote:No way they pay 10 mil for him.

Remember, Gabriel was eating at his minutes even before the injury.

He was a 10-14 mpg guy at most. With the need to resign a bunch of players and thus pay a consistent luxury tax bill, he's 100% gone.

His role is a minimum guy level salary role. It can be filled up by such a guy with no problems.

Gabriel was eating his minutes because Ham seams to irrationally love Gabriel, and also because he and AD didn't know how to use him... But he seemed like the best fit next to AD.

I kind of doubt he'll be here, but I'd resign him over Gabriel, or a lot of other guys on the team right now... We need an athletic big body who can block shots and keep AD healthy. Gabriel is a great hustle guy, but not a lot more.

ROballer · Post #10 » by **ROballer** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 3:14 pm

Yeah, I prefer Bamba as well.

But the truth is Davis is not sniffing ever again playing time at PF. He's a full time C, and as long as he's healthy, there are 12-14 m left at most for the backup C.

You can't pay a dude 10 mil a year for those scraps. Warriors got rid of a #2 pick(Wiseman) for the same reasons basically.
There was no room for him in the rotation except for scraps and the luxury tax bill were killing them.

If we decline his option I'm not sure if we can resign him for less right away, don't really know how these scenarios work but I don't know if it's even possible.
Or if he really wants to be here for those 12-14 mins anyway.

Priorities are Reaves and Russell. With the already big salaries of Lebron/Davis and Beasley if not traded, I don't think the FO will be tying that kind of money to a limited rotation player.

Jody Smokz · Post #11 » by **Jody Smokz** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 4:06 pm

He's 24-25 years old and can legit spread the floor. Someone is going to take a chance. I think outside of LA combining him and Beasley together via trade they should keep him. Everyone keeps saying 10M is too much but dont let the latest win streak forget that AD can and will miss games. It's ok to overpay a bit for good insurance. Bamba still has a ways to go but he has fungible talent that isn't exactly easily found on the market for the vet minimum. He's easily better than Wenyen Gabriel in a clear cut role as well.

Showtime:Part2 wrote:How do u know he won’t resign for the min? Who wants him that badly lol

Vae Victus · Post #12 » by **Vae Victus** » Mon Apr 3, 2023 5:07 pm

If Jeannie wasn’t so luxury cost conscious then keeping Bamba is a no brainer. Sure he’ll be overpaid by a few mil but he does fill a role that the Lakers desperately need, a big who can play some C to reduce ADs wear n tear, protect the paint with length (Bamba isn’t much of a defender but he’s athletic/long), and stretch the floor for AD/LBJ to operate inside.

Bamba on the Lakers ideally plays about 20-24 mins while AD plays the other 24-28 mins at C spot. Wenyen is just too light in the ass and isn’t much of a threat on O. Bamba is also pretty skinny and would easily get punked by the likes of Jokic/Embiid, but at least he’s tall and long and might be a speed bump unlike poor Wenyen.

If Bamba is truly out the rest of the playoffs, I wonder what the market would be for him. Keeping him for the vet min would be ideal, but realistically I CAN see a team being interested in him for the tax MLE sized deal due to his size and skillset.
Lakers role players have stepped up in a big way lately and playing their way to getting at least tax MLE or BAE sized deals which sadly the lakers only have one of.