3 potential home run Lakers trade packages for Mo Bamba
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers swapped centers at the NBA trade deadline. After trading Thomas Bryant to the Denver Nuggets for multiple second-round picks, the team then flipped Patrick Beverley and one second-round pick to the Orlando Magic for Mo Bamba.
At the time it seemed to be an excellent selection as the Lakers were essentially getting a discount version of Myles Turner for extremely cheap. While Bamba is not the player that Turner is, he offered the same fit as a big who could protect the rim and space the floor.
Unfortunately, Bamba sprained his ankle shortly after joining the Lakers and could not carve out a spot in the rotation as a result. This led to Bamba not being part of the playoff rotation, either.
Bamba has a non-guaranteed salary of $10.3 million next season and the Lakers could simply look to cut ties. However, they could turn that asset into another asset in a trade with a team that wants to free up some salary-cap space. Here are three trades with that exact idea in mind.
1. Lakers trade Mo Bamba for Otto Porter Jr.
Otto Porter Jr. has a player option for the 2023-24 season that he already opted into. The Toronto Raptors are paying him $6.3 million next season and there is a chance that the team wants to move off of that contract this summer.
The Raptors have other salary-cap questions to answer with the likes of Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet getting bigger paydays. With Porter only playing six games last season due to injury, you cannot blame the team for not wanting to pay him $6.3 million.
That is where Bamba could come in as a trade acquisition that instantly gets waived to free up the money. Meanwhile, Porter gets another chance to be a rotation player on a contender after he had a solid year for the Golden State Warriors during the 2021-22 season.