Orlando Magic Quest: Should Orlando Magic cash in on Mo Bamba’s play now?

With most of the players in the NBA now eligible to be traded, the Orlando Magic find themselves sitting in an interesting position.

Winners of four straight games despite key individuals like Wendell Carter, Chuma Okeke and Jalen Suggs missing through injury, coach Jamahl Mosley is beginning to figure out the strengths of this group.

Some are obvious, such as letting rookie Paolo Banchero cook early and often. Some less so but just as important, like the interior importance of Franz Wagner that we examined earlier this week and the positive impact it is having.

Then there is Bol Bol, who continues to astound with his highlight plays and timely moments of taking over games.

Yet the Orlando Magic are still potential trade candidates, and the question on whether or not to sell on Mo Bamba now when his stock is high is an interesting one.

As reported by Bleacher Report, the Magic are willing to listen to offers for big man Mo Bamba. This makes sense. Bamba has failed to make a starting spot truly his own with the organization, and of the 249 games he has played in five seasons, he has only started 80 times.

Injuries at unfortunate times, like that leg fracture in his rookie year, have not helped. But bringing Bamba back for two years and $20.6 million (with only the first year guaranteed) during the offseason seemed to have been done with eventually trading him and not losing him for nothing in mind.

But then something unexpected happened. With Carter the starting center and Bol the breakout player for the Magic, Bamba was able to quietly find his place in the background.

He looks as comfortable as he ever has, and although the 18.7 minutes per night he is averaging is a career low, Bamba has had a positive impact.

He is shooting a career-best 38.8 percent from deep, and with little expected of him the points (8.5) and rebounds (5.2) he is chipping in with feel like found money.

What this has meant is Bamba has repaired his reputation somewhat, and in doing so has made his age (he is only 24), possible upside and team-friendly contract appealing to other organizations that are looking to fill out their rosters.

If nothing else, Bamba no longer looks like the liability on the court that he once did, and his time out there is not a complete disaster either. The team are also better defensively when Bamba is on the court (111.8), compared to how they’ve ranked as a whole all season (114.8).

But has the time for the Magic to finally trade Bamba arrived?

On one hand, giving up on him could look foolish a year from now. Young big men take longer to develop, and Bamba was beyond raw when he entered the league. He is obviously not untradeable, but the Magic would want to be sure they were getting even modest value back in return.

On the other hand is the inescapable feeling the moment has passed Bamba by in Orlando. Carter has the potential to be a top 10 big man in the league. He is going nowhere.

Bol has more trade value than Bamba already, but really should be looked at as somebody to keep around for now, to see what he can become.

We have not even mentioned Jonathan Isaac, who is going to return soon and demand at the very least the same amount of minutes Bamba currently averages. And even Moe Wagner has provided a good boost to the team, taking over the starting spot over Bamba since his return from injury.

Minutes have to come from somewhere, and Bamba is the most likely player to have to give his up to make it happen.

There is Okeke to factor in as well. And if R.J. Hampton is asking to go to the Lakeland Magic to get some reps then you know it is competitive on that Magic roster as things stand. Which is a good thing, because it has forced Bamba to up his game and fit into their bigger picture. To his credit he has done that.

Finding value is the trickiest part. Especially value that propels the Magic forward.

Would you get a first-round pick for him? Hard to see that happening. Two second rounders? Probably. But then again what’s the point of that?

Bamba’s future likely lies elsewhere, and he could be paired with another player like Gary Harris in a bigger package to make things happen.

One other potential quirk here is that Bamba still cannot actually be traded until the middle of January. At that point other organizations may be in full on panic mode, or will have missed out on their top targets. They will be able to talk themselves into going after Bamba.

It makes a lot of sense for many reasons for the Magic to finally trade Bamba, and yet you would be forgiven for having a small sense of doubt about doing so. He appears the most likely Magic player to be moved anytime soon, but will you be happy when that happens?