Mohamed Bamba will make an impact for Orlando Magic, but not immediately

Mohamed Bamba is expected to help change the Orlando Magic’s defense and long-term prospects. That change may not happen immediately in his rookie year.

Mohamed Bamba’s first game in an Orlando Magic uniform showed how much potential he truly has.

On his physicality alone, he was imposing. A man that was simply bigger than everyone else on the floor. And every bit of his 7-foot-10 wingspan had an effect on the game. The Magic were better when Bamba was on the floor. that impact was clear.

Entering the NBA Draft, the story on Bamba was mostly about that physical presence and what that could do. Defensively, he seemed like he could become a dominant force for the team.

He dominated the college ranks defensively, averaging 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. He had a +8.9 defensive box plus-minus for the Texas Longhorns.

This is what the Magic signed up for. But they knew he would need a lot of work. Those are impressive statistics. But it is still difficult to project Bamba out.

At Summer League, Bamba seemed to match a lot of his college statistics. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game playing in just 19.7 minutes per game. He added in 2.30 blocks per game. All these numbers provide some clue to what Bamba can provide for the Magic immediately.

First, the shot-blocking is natural and translatable. That comes with his size and length. He is going to be a presence for the team immediately defensively. At Texas, he changed the team defensively and the Magic hope he will do the same.

There is still a lot Bamba will have to learn. His rebounding, one of the most translatable skills from college, is a big sign of that.

Bamba posted a 28.2 percent defensive rebound rate and a 20.2 total rebound rate. He was good at securing the glass, posting the same defensive rebound rate as top overall pick Deandre Ayton.

Where Bamba struggled was on the offensive glass. He posted a 12.2 percent offensive rebound rate (Ayton was at 13.5).

Bamba knows how to use his size to get rebounds, but the question will be whether he can get rebounds in space. Bamba has a lot of work to do on his body to physically grab rebounds and fight on the block for boards. It seems that he has the potential to do so, but that will again come in time.

Second, the Magic kept his minutes down during Summer League. At 19.7 minutes per game, Bamba was not even playing half the game. Orlando opted to bring him along slowly even in Summer League. It seems like this might be a strategy for him for the rest of the year too.

Bamba still needs to work on his body physically to withstand the physicality of the NBA. Even in Summer League, it was easy to see how he might get pushed around. Ayton had his way with Bamba in the post.

It is not that Bamba is not willing to play physical and willing to use what mass he has. That all bodes well for Bamba’s development. When he gets the strength, he will not shy away from contact. For now, Bamba will try his best to body up throughout his rookie season. But the results are not likely to be great his rookie year.

It would seem that despite all the initial excitement about Bamba, the Magic are probably still going to develop him slowly. They want to put him in positions to succeed and make sure he is grasping the basics and adding in good habits all while helping the team win.

If Bamba clearly outplays the players ahead of him, he can earn more minutes. But Steve Clifford is not a coach who has given rookies tons of playing time in the past.

Clifford has had a few centers come through the Charlotte Hornets as a rookie. Cody Zeller played in all 82 games in the 2014 season but just 17.3 minutes per game his rookie year, playing behind Al Jefferson.

The following year, forward Noah Vonleh played in just 10.4 minutes per game across 25 games. In 2016, the Hornets drafted another center in Frank Kaminsky, who played in 81 games and just 21.1 minutes per game.

Of course, three years into his career, Zeller was starting in 60 of his 73 games and averaging 24.3 minutes per game. The growth in his game — and in Kaminsky’s game — since their rookie years was evident. There was a plan and they played well enough to earn some minutes and play some role as they grew.

Much of the storyline in Charlotte last year was the slow development for Malik Monk. It seems like Clifford is someone who believes in playing rookies when they are ready and not giving them more than they can handle.

To be clear, Bamba projects to be a much better player than any of those players. Both Zeller and Kaminsky were more established players from the college game with clear limitations. Neither was meant to be a game-changing defensive presence (or offensive player for that matter). They both were likely to top off at 24 minutes per game.

Bamba likely will start his career averaging more than 20 minutes per game. He is simply ready to do more and can make a bigger impact. That much was clear during Summer League. And in the Magic’s batch of centers, Bamba is probably still one of the better options.

But that does not mean he is the best option. At least not yet.

The third part of all this is the unknown of Bamba’s offense.

He was a relatively unused player offensively last year at Texas. Really the Longhorns used him only in pick and rolls and pick and pops. No one was going to run post ups for him. So he had a lot of rim runs and jumpers.

The offense was very simplistic for him. And that will be the case again for Bamba. It is not clear what he will be able to do offensively for the team.

Orlando Magic

Bamba has worked tirelessly on his jumper and his offensive game this offseason. Part of his pre-draft blitz was showing off that hard work. It is probably safe to say he will outperform Nylon Calculus’ projection of his 3-point shooting. He has remade his shot. The results of that work are yet to play out — although they were encouraging during Summer League.

But even in Summer League, he showed a relatively simplistic offensive game. The Magic did not run a lot of plays for him and looked for him to set screens and run toward the rim. Orlando is likely to keep his role that simplistic.

It feels like then Mohamed Bamba is going to have a similar rookie year to Dwight Howard (although the two are different players in some respects).

Howard’s rookie year saw him average a double-double of 12.0 and 10.0 rebounds per game and start every game. Coach Johnny Davis gave him the role of simply chasing rebounds, setting screens and cleaning up the offensive glass. The expectations for the 18-year-old were relatively low and they set easy benchmarks for him as he continued to grow.

Howard did not even play center, playing alongside another defensive-minded big in Kelvin Cato.

Bamba may follow a similar developmental path. He may not start every game (he probably will not) but his role will probably follow the same simplistic path. They will keep his responsibilities simple and give him every chance to succeed and grow, throwing new challenges in front of him when he is ready to take them on.

Bamba will undoubtedly have his moments in his rookie year. His talent is too immense and his potential too great not to have some effect.

But it is important to remember that Bamba is not likely to be Rookie of the Year either. He has a lot of development to go and is not entering the NBA a ready-made player. The Magic seem determined to bring him along slowly.

This is a long game, of course. A rookie year does not make a career. It is important to see flashes of brilliance than to see it all at one — although no one will complain if Bamba surpasses expectations and makes that leap.

Bamba should make some immediate impact. But his rookie year will be only the start of the journey.