CLIPPERS PULL OFF SNEAKY MOVE ON UNHERALDED 76ERS ASSET AFTER LOSING PAUL GEORGE

The Los Angeles Clippers may have lost Paul George to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. But instead of licking their wounds, they have decided to gear up on some depth in preparation for the 2024-25 campaign. On Monday night, the Clippers were busy yet again, this time signing Mo Bamba away from the 76ers to fill the backup center void left by Mason Plumlee’s departure for the Phoenix Suns.

Bamba, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, signed a one-year deal with the Clippers; this is a sort of prove-me deal following a topsy-turvy 2023-24 season with the 76ers where he was unable to establish himself as the preferred backup option to Joel Embiid.

At the very least, the Clippers are acquiring a backup center that would give the team a different dimension to that of Ivica Zubac. Plumlee was in that similar rim-running mold, which meant that the Clippers were sort of boxed in the way they had to play if they wanted to maintain size on the floor. But now, Mo Bamba is coming in as a legitimate floor-spacing weapon, which is rarely a bad thing in a James Harden and Kawhi Leonard- driven offense.

Last season with the 76ers, Bamba shot 39 percent from deep, giving the Clippers a pick-and-pop option at center — a look that the team hasn’t had ever since they had Serge Ibaka on the roster. Moreover, Bamba is a much better shot-blocker than Plumlee has ever been, so there is a chance that the Clippers’ defense doesn’t fall way off a cliff whenever Zubac is resting.

This addition may not exactly move the needle for a Clippers team that lost one of the best two-way wings in the entire association. But these little upgrades on the margins tend to add up, which is what they will be hoping for as they look to remain competitive in the Western Conference.

The Clippers’ grand pivot — will it work?

While losing Paul George for nothing in free agency is a tough pill to swallow and an overall bitter end to the blockbuster trade in 2019 that saw them give up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Clippers don’t have the time to lick their wounds. Credit goes to the Clippers for standing their ground and maintaining future flexibility even though it will come at the cost of present competitiveness.

The Clippers are looking to restore their defensive identity, an emphasis that has been made clear by their recent moves. Adding Derrick Jones Jr., playoff hero for the NBA Finals runner-up Dallas Mavericks, on a three-year, $30 million deal is shrewd business as he spares Kawhi Leonard from tough matchups. Jones showed how elite he was on defense when he slowed down George, took on the challenge of defending Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards and came out on top.

Meanwhile, bringing back Nicolas Batum isn’t just a move of sentimentality; in addition to re-assembling the Batum Battalion, the veteran forward can also hang with quicker ballhandlers on the perimeter and he has a knack for making big shot after big shot for his teams. The Clippers’ defensive versatility only went up with Batum on board.

And then there’s the addition of Kris Dunn; Dunn may not be the best floor-spacer in the world, but he is one of the most stifling guard defenders in the league.

As far as bounce-backs go, this is nearly as good as it gets given their present cap circumstances. The Clippers are showing that they have a lot of fight left in them, and they have shown that they have a clear roster-building vision that they are trying to achieve. Now, if only they could acquire a bigger forward so that Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t have to suit up at the four like he did this past season.

A retrospective of Mo Bamba’s career to this point

Mo Bamba has been a backup center for most of his career; as the sixth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, expectations were certainly higher than for the man Sheck Wes immortalized to become a career bench player. He began his career behind Nikola Vucevic on the Orlando Magic, and his career hasn’t taken off from there.

During the 2021-22 season, when Bamba became the starting four for the Magic, he averaged 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per contest while making 1.5 triples a night on a 38.1 percent clip. But that didn’t exactly result in winning basketball, with the Magic going 22-60 during that campaign.

Since then, Bamba has been a bench player, and barring a major turnaround, it seems like that will not change anytime soon. But players who could block shots and nail some threes should always have a place in the NBA. He is only 26 years of age as well, so he should be in his physical prime for the foreseeable future.

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2024-07-02T05:37:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd