DECEMBER 29: The signing is official, the Raptors announced (via Twitter). .
DECEMBER 28: Free agent center Mo Bamba is signing a one-year deal with the Raptors, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
This move comes on the precipice of Toronto getting an update on the health status of starting center Jakob Poeltl, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter links), who reports that Bamba’s deal will be non-guaranteed.
Keith Smith of Spotrac notes (via Twitter) that this move puts Toronto’s team salary $475K over the first apron and about $2.1M over the tax line, but adds that he doesn’t expect the Raptors to operate in the tax by the end of the season, making them a clear candidate for further moves.
With Poeltl in and out of the rotation due to injury, the Raptors have relied on Sandro Mamukelashvili for frontcourt depth, but Bamba gives them a different look due to his length and shot-blocking ability.
Bamba started his career with the Magic, playing four-and-a-half seasons in Orlando after being drafted sixth overall in 2018. He holds career averages of 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds over his seven-year career. The 27-year-old big man played 14 games for the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League this season, averaging 16.5 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks.
The NBA’s league-wide salary guarantee date is January 7 — players on non-guaranteed contracts must be waived on or before that date if their teams want to avoid locking in their full-season salaries. The Raptors could essentially treat Bamba’s non-guaranteed deal like a 10-day contract, waiving him by Jan. 7, then bringing him back on two actual 10-day contracts before making a decision on whether to retain him for the rest of the season.
He should go back to college
Yeah, every 27 year old who has made 40M dollars should go back to college. link to spotrac.com
Sounds like Poeltl about to be out for the year or something.
It is a non guaranteed contract….
Hope Mo balls out, kid has the work ethic, can rebound, can block, is mobile just needs to put it all together but that’s been the case since he got drafted really
He has no work ethic and that’s his problem
Why raps didn’t draft Derik Queen is beyond me
That’s who I always thought they would’ve picked
He has no D
Baila Bamba Baila Bamba, para bailar la Bamba..
Can be a decent backup C
Masai gone and the questionable signings started…