3 former Lakers failing miserably with their new teams in 2023

Mo Bamba, Philadelphia 76ers

Speaking of the revolving door at the center position, Mo Bamba was also part of this trend for the Lakers last season. In fact, these three players all being included in this article is poetic as they were all tied together last season.

Los Angeles traded multiple second-round picks to the Washington Wizards for Rui Hachimura and got those picks back by trading Bryant to the Nuggets. With the team still needing a center to fill out the depth chart, the Lakers decided to trade another second-round pick to the Orlando Magic for Bamba.

Going to Orlando in that deal? Patrick Beverley. Now, Beverley and Bamba fittingly find themselves as teammates on the 76ers and both are not doing too well away from Los Angeles.

The situation with Bamba is different from Beverley, though. Beverley is a consistent member of the rotation and is not playing very well. Bamba has not gotten any real playing time at all, continuing the trend he established in Los Angeles.

If anything, this shows that Bamba probably doesn't have the high ceiling that draft analysts saw back when he was taken in the lottery. Lakers fans hoped for that same high potential last season but Bamba never really played when he was healthy, which upset fans as he theoretically was the perfect five to put next to Anthony Davis.

Another team bringing Bamba in and only giving him 18 total minutes in an entire month justifies Ham's decision to keep Bamba out of the rotation. Unfortunately for Bamba, this means that he will never live up to being a sixth-overall pick.