A way-too-early look at the 2018 NBA Draft

Mohamed Bamba, Texas

Mohamed Bamba’s ceiling is the ultimate pick-and-roll weapon – a big who can finish, shoot and pass – in addition to an excellent rim protector because of his ridiculous physical tools.

Bamba is 7-feet tall. But more impressive than his height is his wingspan.

If he were in the NBA today, Bamba would have one of the league’s longest at 7-foot-9, per DraftExpress.com. In fact, that grades out as the second longest in their database, which goes back to 1987.

For reference, he has a taller standing reach than DeAndre Jordan and a longer wingspan than Rudy Gobert.

Those measurables combined with his quickness and instincts make him a defensive terror both protecting the rim and stepping out to defend in space.

And, of course, with his impressive reach, he is almost impossible to stop from getting up to catch lobs and finish at the basket. And while many bigs with long arms and broad shoulders like Bamba have trouble shooting, he has a solid midrange stroke and a decent 3-point shot.

His shooting ability has helped his face-up game, which is still a work in progress. He has a back-to-the-basket post-up game that works well against mismatches, but it is not far along enough for it to be effective against players of his size.

But that is becoming less and less a part of the modern game, so whether he can improve in those areas is not a great cause for concern. He can find his scoring in other areas.

More worrisome is his light lower body, which makes it tough for him to hold his own when fighting for rebounds or getting backed down by other big men. How effectively he manages to crash the glass and guard post ups will be something to keep an eye on during his NCAA tenure.

But like Ayton, with his measurables and versatile skill set, Bamba should fit right into to the mold of the modern NBA center.