Mo Bamba was Spotted Training in Lakers Facility Just Minutes Before News of Waiving

Interesting timing here!

Everybody must have heard by now that the Lakers decided against picking up Mo Bamba's $10.9 million team option for next season (you can read all details here) and he will likely be on the hunt for a new team. There still is the possibility that the Lakers bring him back on a smaller deal but remembering the reports that recently came out about his wish to play for the Chicago Bulls, it doesn't look too likely.

However, we just received some interesting, new information that could show otherwise. The Athletic's Jovan Buha took to Twitter and revealed that minutes before news came out that Bamba would be heading to waivers along with Shaquille Harrison, he was putting in work at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo.

Bamba was just working out at the facility wearing Lakers gear a few minutes ago. https://t.co/cXmFbt8Zr3

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) June 29, 2023

"Bamba was just working out at the facility wearing Lakers gear a few minutes ago."

Would Bamba still be representing the organization and using their facilities if he knew that his time with them was about to end? Maybe this is one of those cases where the team just chooses not to tell the player and instead allows them to find out on their own but this situation seems different.

3/1/2023

Mo Bamba’s 5th game as a Laker

1 of 9 total games played

1 of only 2 games in which he played over 16 mins

In 5 of the 9 games he totaled 16 mins combined

Lakers were 4-1 post trade deadline following this win

Bamba posted 12 & 7; 1 blk 3-4 3FGs #FreeBamba pic.twitter.com/1COzpoJCN1

— 🏆LakersGuru🏆 (@GuruLakers) June 26, 2023

He is still just 25-years-old and outside of his 2021-2022 campaign, he hasn't been able to pair production and health together to showcase his full potential. The center free agent market is not the hottest right now and if the MLE doesn't sway Brook Lopez to LA, what will their options be?

Perhaps Bamba could return on the bi-annual to prove himself to the Lakers and the rest of the NBA world. The Chicago Bulls, a team he was reportedly eyeing, are officially bringing back their two main big men in Andre Drummond and Nikola Vucevic... we'll have to see how this plays out.