Jazz To Sign Mo Bamba To 10-Day Contract

The sixth overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft, Bamba appeared in a total of 364 regular season games over seven seasons with the Magic, Lakers, Sixers, Clippers, and Pelicans from 2018-25. However, he was unable to secure a guaranteed NBA contract ahead of the 2025/26 season and spent training camp with the Jazz before being waived and reporting to the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.

The 27-year-old big man has had a big year with the Stars, averaging 17.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 27.7 minutes per game across 22 appearances, with an excellent shooting line of .553/.380/.807.

However, Bamba’s strong G League performance had only earned him a brief stint in the NBA up until this point — he signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Raptors on December 29 to provide frontcourt depth with Jakob Poeltl battling a back issue, but was waived about a week later before his full salary became guaranteed.

Bamba could have a chance to play a more significant role in Utah, where the Jazz’s front line has been hit hard by injuries. Starting center Walker Kessler underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in November and his replacement, Jusuf Nurkic, had a season-ending procedure on his nose earlier this week. Additionally, Jaren Jackson Jr. is done for the season after having a growth in his knee surgically removed, while Lauri Markkanen reportedly suffered an injury in Wednesday’s practice and is still being evaluated.

Bamba will earn $177,064 over the course of his 10-day contract, with Utah taking on a cap hit of $131,970.