The Toronto Raptors waived seven-foot centre Mo Bamba on Tuesday, according to an announcement from the team.
Bamba was waived one day ahead of the date the required for his contract not to guarantee ahead of it’s Jan. 10 deadline, according to multiple reports.
However, the Raptors may still be calling Bamba’s phone. Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reports that he expects Bamba will sign a 10-day with the Raptors now that the Jan. 5 deadline has passed and teams are able to.
In this situation Bamba would be able to rejoin the Raptors before their game against the Boston Celtics on Friday and have more runway to judge if he’s a good fit with the team, Grange added.
Toronto announced on Monday that starting centre Jakob Poeltl was cleared for contact and is conditioning for a return to play. The Austrian Hammer has effectively been out since Dec. 15 with the lower back issues that have been plaguing him all season, playing only seven minutes in a game against the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 21 before having to exit.
In his absence the Raptors have largely cobbled together their centre minutes between Sandro Mamukelashvili, Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles, to mixed effect.
They were badly out rebounded in three of the first five games without Poeltl, however they’ve managed to better control the glass lately, including a franchise record-tying 25 board by Barnes against the Warriors and multiple strong games from CMB.
Bamba meanwhile has played a minimal role, seeing the floor for under six minutes in two games with the Raptors over the last week and change, grabbing two boards, a block and failing to score a basket. He famously fell while rolling to the rim during his first possession against the Orlando Magic.
A former sixth-overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 2018, Bamba has struggled to find his footing in the NBA. His best season came in 2021-22 when he averaged 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, but he’s been unable to find a consistent role since largely due to struggles rebounding the ball consistently and poor finishing at the rim.
