Insider Anticipates How Lakers Will Handle Mo Bamba's Non-Guaranteed 2023-24 Money

Will the Lakers retain their little-used reserved center?

Your Los Angeles Lakers have a variety of big free agent decisions to make this summer regarding the role players on their roster.

Little-used, oft-injured Los Angeles Lakers reserve center Mo Bamba is not anywhere near the top of that list.

The seven-footer, who was drafted with the sixth pick in 2018 out of the University of Texas at Austin by the Orlando Magic, was traded to LA in a deadline deal that shipped veteran guard Patrick Beverley's contract out of town.

A bad ankle sprain limited Bamba's availability for Los Angeles, but even when he did return he didn't crack the team's roster in the postseason. Though he has the outlines of a useful 3-and-D, rim-protecting big man, he has yet to make a major impact on a good team (he appeared in just three playoff games, in mop-up minutes). It's clear that he has fallen out of favor with LA head coach Darvin Ham. 

Bamba averaged 3.7 points on .407/.313/.545 shooting splits, 4.6 rebounds and 0.6 blocks across his nine available games with Los Angeles this year.

John Hollinger of The Athletic, who worked in the Memphis Grizzlies' front office for a spell, recently took a look at how he expects Los Angeles to deal with Bamba's non-guaranteed $10.3 million contract for 2023-24.

The deal becomes fully guaranteed on June 29th. Hollinger's analysis pegs the big man's true value closer to $5.9 million annually, though even that feels like a bit of a stretch, given that Bamba had become the Lakers' fourth-string center by the end of the playoffs, after even Tristan Thompson.

Although Hollinger ultimately believes that Los Angeles is most likely to move off Bamba's money this month, he believes there's a possibility the club guarantees the final year of his deal for inclusion in a trade. Combo guard Shaquille Harrison, who also has a non-guaranteed salary for next season, and swingman Malik Beasley, who has a team option on his deal for 2023-24, could also be brought back. The three players' salaries could be combined for us in a combined trade for a player, or players, who could fit better in Los Angeles next year. To make this happen, LA would surely need to include some future draft equity.

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