The 3 Orlando Magic players most likely to be traded by the deadline

3 Orlando Magic player most likely to get traded at the deadline

1. Mo Bamba

For Mo Bamba, the writing is now officially on the wall. The center may feel hard done by with this, as he has quietly had the best season of his career to date with the Orlando Magic. Now in his fifth campaign though, it is simply too late.

Shooting 38.4 percent from deep is a nice number. But Bamba has failed to be a true force on the defensive end. To be fair to him, the defensive rating of 110.8 he is posting this season is 27th among all centers and is above both Moe Wagner (112.4) and Bol Bol (115).

But with Wendell Carter the definite starter, the elder Wagner offering a nice boost of energy off the bench and the potential of Bol still too enticing, there is nowhere left for Bamba to go to continue to grow in this rotation.

Jonathan Isaac will be in direct competition with Mo Bamba for minutes, and showed in that win over the Celtics that his offensive game is already more diverse than Bamba’s even after 904 days of not playing for the team. Look at this play on a proper defender in Jaylen Brown.

If Isaac is showing that kind of offensive confidence so soon after coming back, then you can bet his impact defensively will start to show sooner rather than later. The only question then, is what the Magic could hope to get back in a deal involving Bamba?

They have plenty of young players who need minutes, so perhaps a veteran is the move. This would be even more critical if Ross is also gone by February 9th.

At only 24-years-old, this would give Bamba the opportunity to start afresh in a situation where he will be given the chance to thrive.