The player development clock is already ticking for Mohamed Bamba
The Orlando Magic have gotten an impressive Summer League showing from rookie Mohamed Bamba. Given the team’s history, the clock may already be ticking for him.
Orlando Magic fans have watched their team, now more than six years into its rebuild, ship off young player after young player to other teams, only to watch many of them blossom elsewhere. There is a feeling of paranoia among the fan base — even with a new management group — that everything feels so fleeting.
Orlando wrapped up Aaron Gordon on a long-term deal and Jonathan Isaac has looked promising. But the team still seems to need that pivot player.
That is what they hope Mohamed Bamba can be. And he has looked the part early on in Summer League.
Even with how well he is playing, it is impossible not to worry the Magic will have the patience with him. Could the same future lie ahead for Bamba?
It might be too early to make that projection. But the Magic, under previous management, have not exactly shown patience. And the clock is ticking as this Playoff drought continues.
Victor Oladipo is the poster child for the Magic’s disastrous rebuild.
Orlando drafted him second overall in 2013, but he was inconsistent at best while in a Magic jersey. Was inadequate player development the problem? Or was it the Magic culture? Was it too difficult on Oladipo mentally to be on a rebuilding team? Was it that he lacked an on-court mentor (possibly remedied by his year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, behind Russell Westbrook)?
No one can know for sure. But, fans know this: The Magic traded away a player who developed into the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year less than two years later. He put up 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per game last season for the Indiana Pacers.
Could Oladipo reach this height without spending a year in Oklahoma? It seems doubtful, and most Magic fans are altogether frustrated by the subject. That might be one of the reasons the team was set on bringing Aaron Gordon back despite his own inconsistencies.
Magic fans are tired of watching young players with great potential flourish on another team’s roster.
Mario Hezonja now poses a similar worry to fans. The Magic drafted him fifth overall in 2015. He only began to show his potential the second half of this past season. Will he soar to new heights in a New York Knicks jersey?
He is not the only one.
Tobias Harris showed promise during his tenure. Harris began putting up 18.2 points per game seemingly overnight once traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2016. He averaged 13.7 his last year in Orlando.
The Magic drafted Domantas Sabonis 11th overall in 2016. Orlando promptly traded him (along with Oladipo) to Oklahoma City on draft night. The Thunder traded Sabonis and Oladipo to the Pacers the following year.
Sabonis’ first year in Indiana, he averaged 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.
Fans need not struggle to remember players of whom they would say, “Why did we ever trade him?”
It is not a good recent history. Most of those decisions belong to Rob Hennigan though.
Given the team’s track record with young players, a question lingers. Will President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond give Mohamed Bamba the time necessary to develop into the player they see him becoming?
Orlando Magic
Right now, all the Magic can give him is time. He is a young, raw player both physically and tactically. He has a lot of tools he can use — including that otherworldly length — but it all needs time to come together. Already in Summer League, Bamba is showing what kind of impact he can have, but it will take some time for it to develop.
But once that first season ends, the clock starts ticking for the team to see him develop and grow.
One would hope the days of lackluster player development are gone with the firing of former general manager Rob Hennigan. But no one should rest upon such assumptions.
Both Orlando and Bamba’s camp can take deliberate steps to ensure a smooth second phase of the rebuild.
The team must prioritize player development. A young team without a strong player development strategy is planning for failure.
Hammond and Weltman should also take note of the success of former Magic players and avoid knee-jerk trades. Former management clearly made such trades in favor of winning now, rather than continuing to invest in their young core. The Magic saw this strategy backfire severely.
It seems the Magic are determined to dig in and commit to their young core. But the question remains how patient will they be?
Right now, the Magic need to manage Bamba’s expectations. They obviously think very highly of him and see him as a potential player to build and grow around.
Fans just want to see a young player with potential become who they are told he can become. They are seeing that presently with Gordon, the last remaining player Hennigan drafted in his five years as the team’s general manager.
Next: Orlando Magic laying down defense in Summer League
Time will tell if Bamba is able to outlast the frighteningly low survival rate for young players in Orlando. The clock is ticking.