3 trades that would help the Orlando Magic hit restart
By Tim Monaghan
A restart for Mo Bamba
The first one involves sending a young center back to his hometown. Mohamed Bamba, who is originally from Harlem, should be traded to the New York Knicks.
The former Texas product has never really fit in or developed much of a rhythm with the Magic. Some of that is because of injury and then his bout of COVID in the offseason. Bamba has fallen behind because he missed key offseason time to improve his skills.
To compound matters, he has never earned the trust of the coaching staff. In fact, Steve Clifford did not play at all for much of the season and rarely has he played significant minutes at all this season or in his Magic tenure period.
Giving him a change of scenery makes sense for both sides. Even better, the team who plays in the world’s most famous arena is interested in pursuing him and their interest level dates back to the 2018 Draft, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Orlando should try to get back somebody like Kevin Knox from the same draft class. Like Bamba, he has largely fallen out of the rotation and has had trouble finding his niche with the Knicks’ current regime.
Like Aaron Gordon, he is a good defender who can play either forward position, too. Orlando should roll the dice on him, especially if they eventually trade Gordon soon, too.