Sixers

Hopefully Mo Bamba Plays a Bazillion Minutes While Joel Embiid is Load Managed for the Playoffs

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 6th, 2023 · 9:43 AM EDT

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The Sixers signed Mo Bamba:

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

Now we know why he was at Michael Rubin’s white party on the Fourth of July. It all makes sense!

Bamba is the latest backup center to grace the Sixers roster during the post-Process era, joining an illustrious list that includes Amir Johnson, Richaun Holmes, Jahlil Okafor, Justin Patton, Boban Marjanovic, Greg Monroe, Kyle O’Quinn, Norvel Pelle, Al Horford kind of, Tony Bradley, Dwight Howard, Vincent Poirier, DeAndre Jordan, Charles Bassey, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andre Drummond, Montrezl Harrell, Dewayne Dedmon, and Paul Reed.

RE: Reed, Woj says the Sixers do intend to bring back BBall Paul, so it looks like Bamba is in the Harrell role this year as the third center, at least on paper, which is perfectly fine. God willing, Joel Embiid will be load managed like no one has ever been load managed, ensuring his playoff health and leaving Reed and Bamba to eat up regular season minutes.

On court, Bamba is an interesting cat. Westtown product, out in Chester County, He’s a seven footer with a ridiculous wing span and checks some analytics-friendly boxes, but he certainly hasn’t reached the heights the Magic thought they were getting when they drafted him 6th overall a few years back. Bamba is still in his mid-20s, and the Sixers are getting him on the minimum, so that’s the definition of a low-risk, potentially high-reward move. If he can give you athleticism and defense on the interior, and perhaps rediscover a bit of that shooting form from a few years back, then you’ve absolutely got something to work with. Nick Nurse also has the opportunity here to try some double big lineups, perhaps play Reed at the 4, and experiment with some different front court looks. Bamba feels like a Nurse type of player, yeah? One of those long and disruptive guys that seemed to grow on trees up in Toronto. We should all be intrigued by this signing.

By the way, the “Mo Bamba” song is appalling. It makes me want to cut my ears off with a rusty hacksaw: