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In what may be his last game as a member of the Orlando Magic, Mo Bamba's night will not be remembered for playing 21 minutes and scoring 11 points and knocking down three three-pointers in a road win at Minnesota. Bamba's night will be remembered for getting into it with Orlando resident Austin Rivers, who plays for the Timberwolves.
Each side has their version of who said what and apparently Bamba stuck his tongue out at Rivers and the two jawed back-and-forth and then Mo even tried to continue the spat in the corridor outside the two locker rooms and, according to the NBA, pushed a security representative. Bamba was handed a four-game suspension for the incident. Rivers got three games and Jalen Suggs received a one-game suspension for being involved on the court.
With the NBA trade deadline this Thursday Bamba might be on the move, or at least the Magic might be looking to move on from the Bamba experiment. Prior to the game at Minnesota he had four DNPs(did not play) in six games. His points, rebounds and minutes are down as Mo Wagner has taken the majority of minutes backing up Wendell Carter Jr. and Bamba has not been a part of a healthy Magic rotation of late.
Last July the Magic signed Bamba to a two-year deal worth $21M and many in the league were surprised the Magic brought him back. Perhaps the free agent market for Bamba was not what he and his agent thought and Orlando may have felt his performance from the 2021-22 season warranted a return. He did start in 69 of 71 games and averaged 10.6/8.1 in a promising season. But the team may have felt they couldn't let Bamba, who they used a lottery pick on, to just walk with the uncertainty of Jonathan Isaac's health, and the lack of depth up front.
Fast forward to today and Wendell Carter Jr., who went one pick after Bamba, has established himself at center and Mo Wagner has just been more consistent backing up Carter. Add the development of Paolo Banchero and the return of Isaac and even Bol Bol and Bamba finds himself an odd-man out.
There may not be a big market for Bamba, but there may be a team needing another big man to make a playoff push and his salary is trade friendly. Bamba likely does not get you a first round pick back but there may be a deal the team just sees as viable to move on from a guy taken after Trae Young and before Carter Jr.
With three games left on suspension, it's possible Mo's final moment as a member of the Magic will be his altercation with Austin Rivers and the fact his team really won't miss him in games he is out...
Nuggets: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim won a game against Boston College but still was grumpy as he tossed out teams he felt had bought players to build a roster in the NIL/pay-for-play world of college basketball. He said Pitt, Wake Forest and Miami all "bought a team" in the last year and he added that "this is where the world is" in college basketball. Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes barked back at the notion of buying a team saying it was "one thousand percent wrong" and he has "never had a player choose Wake for NIL money." Well, Boeheim then backed down saying he "misspoke about Wake and Pitt buying teams" and that he "shouldn't have" included Wake and Pitt in his statement. Another coach complaining about the NIL/pay-for-play world and accusing other teams and then walking it back. He didn't walk back the comment about Miami but does anyone believe Boeheim is getting players today the old fashion way? And there have been a number of former Big East players, now coaches, laughing at Boeheim's comments because many believe Jim worked that gray area for years when it came to player acquisition years ago. You remember those days don't you? When the sneaker company guy handled all that stuff... Mario Cristobal came to Miami with his 10-year $80M contract and many thought he hired an all-star staff. Then Miami went 5-7 and now he is in the market for two new coordinators. He fired Josh Gattis as his offensive coordinator, one year after Gattis won the award as the nation's top assistant while at Michigan. Now, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has been called back to Alabama by Nick Saban to run his defense. College assistants on the move is not new or odd, but firing one and losing another after your first year is not common. Toledo Head Coach Jason Candle, who signed a three-year extension in January, is rumored for the OC job and Cristobal can promote linebackers coach Charlie Strong to DC but the all-star staff will undergo changes heading into year two...Sat in the last row on a flight Sunday morning. Nothing more depressing as I sat in the aisle seat. You are the first to see the drink cart but the last to get a drink and the idea of being able to get to the bathroom first fades into everyone standing in front of your face in a long line after they had their drink and snack. So depressing...And I saw you pops downing those mini-bottles of wine on a 8:30a flight and getting up five times in two hours to use that restroom...
Final note: There are 67 counties in florida. Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are the three most populated counties. Liberty is the least populated county in the state.