2018 NBA Draft Prospect Report Part 6: Mohamed Bamba

Rim Running

Mohamed Bamba probably will not be an offensive star. But if his defense translates, he will not need to be more than a pick-and-roll dive man — a role for which he is highly suited.

His massive lob catch radius is his main selling point. He can turn garbage into gold, reaching into the heavens to bring errant passes down into the basket.

He needs some improvement as a screener, particularly with timing and solidifying his base. But his long limbs give him a wide base that makes it easier for him to free his teammates and create advantages in the halfcourt.

While he is imperfect here, he does not look quite as lost as Deandre Ayton. He also might not be quite as explosive leaping from a standstill. But again, his reach compensates for those shortcomings, allowing him to finish comfortably even when the passes arrive late.

He is more than just a lob target, as he also has demonstrated the potential for making catches farther away from the basket and taking multiple dribbles before finishing.

In high school, he flashed the ability to pass on the move. But with the Texas Longhorns was not placed in the position to do so very often. Still, these are intriguing signs of him becoming a quality short-roll option, potentially capable of receiving the ball near the free throw line and making good decisions one day.

Bamba’s wingspan allows him to make some impressive finishes at the rim.

This play is also not a traditional pick-and-roll possession, but it does provide several insights. First, Bamba’s hands are good enough, not perfect. Second, he is capable of touch finishes in traffic, in no small part due to the fact that he can reach over almost any defender.

He finished the year achieving 1.067 points per possession on 16 rolls to the basket per Synergy, which grades as “below average” in their database. As is obvious from a cursory look at the film, that is a noisy stat.

Bamba clearly projects as a good pick-and-roll dive man. But not only is it a small statistical sample, the college game is just not nearly as conducive to volume or efficiency on those plays as the NBA’s spread pick-and-roll systems are.

On 24 possessions popping out of the pick-and-roll, he scored 0.667 points per possession, also below average.

He is a developing jump shooter. And clearly, the results are not there yet, as he shot 27.6 percent on threes, 68.1 percent from the line and 30.8 percent on 26 threes from NBA range. But the willingness to attempt threes is encouraging, and is sometimes enough to draw defenders out to the perimeter during the regular season.

There was a gradual uptick in his shooting percentages throughout the year, which may also be encouraging. But at this point, his shot is a part of his lower-probability offensive upside rather than his current skill repertoire.

Bamba has multiple routes to becoming a fearsome offensive weapon. His lob-catching ability is bankable, his screening and hands are good enough, he has an underrated diverse finishing arsenal and he has upside as both a driver and shooter.

The one major swing skill for him is whether he can make essential passing reads from a standstill or on the move, particularly on drives or short rolls.