NBA Trade Rumors: Should the Boston Celtics Give Up Valuable Assets for the Chance to Draft Mohamed Bamba?
The Boston Celtics had a golden opportunity in the recently concluded Eastern Conference Finals.
Up 3–2 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics had two chances to punch their ticket to the championship series but came up short on both occasions.
Celtics fans and players remain optimistic, however, and they should be.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
They made it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals without two of their better players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward and still have a bounty of extra picks they can use for either adding more young talent or packaging them together to swing a deal for an established star.
Even if the Celtics stand pat throughout this offseason, they will still end up on the shortlist of title contenders for next season, but a recent rumor is hinting that they may have a move in mind.
According to sources spoken to recently by the Sporting News, the Celtics have shown interest in Mohamed Bamba, a center prospect who played college ball for the Texas Longhorns.
This most recent season, the Celtics found a way to defend the interior by relying on the duo of Al Horford and Aron Baynes. The two players defended well for the most part, but it would help the team if they could find a single player who can handle the task of protecting the paint for an extended period of time.
Perhaps the Celtics see Bamba as that premiere paint protector, and understandably so.
In his lone season for the Longhorns, Bamba blocked nearly four shots per game and he likely altered the course of countless others. Defenses can be built around the rim protection Bamba provides, and that can make him a real asset for any team, but he is not a perfect prospect.
As valuable as rim-protecting centers are on one end of the floor, they can be liabilities on offense because many of them have a range limited only to just how far the paint goes.
Some analysts have hinted that Bamba could develop a jump shot that will prevent defenses from ignoring him, but that's no sure thing.
The Ringer's draft guide describes Bamba as a "theoretical shooter" and with good reason. Aside from his shooting form needing some additional tweaks, Bamba also shot an unimpressive 27 percent from three-point land with the Longhorns and his free-throw shooting percentage was a subpar 68, according to Sports Reference.
Bamba's willingness to add a jumper to his skill set is admirable, and it certainly has a chance of working out for him, but the fact that he doesn't have a reliable shot yet should give teams some pause.
The Celtics are so asset-rich that they could probably give up some talented youngsters and some draft picks for the opportunity to select Bamba and still have enough left over to make another huge deal in the future if they wanted to.
If any team can afford to make a risky trade, it's probably the Celtics, and they may very well complete one sometime soon.
