Raptors waive veteran center Mo Bamba a week after signing him

The sixth overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, Bamba opened the 2025-26 season in the G League, then joined the Raptors last Monday to provide depth in the middle while starting center Jakob Poeltl recovers from a back injury.

Bamba, 27, was excelling in the NBAGL for the Salt Lake City Stars, averaging 16.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in 14 outings for Utah’s affiliate. However, he didn’t play much during his brief stint with Toronto, logging four minutes last Monday against Orlando and just 93 seconds in garbage time on Saturday against Atlanta.

Bamba’s contract was non-guaranteed, so waiving him prior to this week’s leaguewide salary guarantee date will allow the Raptors to avoid paying his full salary. The team will take on a cap charge of $194,771 for Bamba’s 11 days of service (nine on the roster and two on waivers).

Teams are now permitted to sign players to standard 10-day contracts, so the Raptors may bring back Bamba on a short-term deal once he clears waivers.

On the other hand, Poeltl’s return may not be far off — he’s taking contact and working on his reconditioning, head coach Darko Rajakovic said on Monday, via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Toronto has also been playing well as of late with Sandro Mamukelashvili playing a regular role off the bench behind a small-ball starting lineup that features rookie Collin Murray-Boyles as the de facto five. Still, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca believes there’s a decent chance the team re-signs Bamba to a 10-day deal for insurance purposes.

Bamba is the second veteran center on a non-guaranteed contract to hit waivers this week, joining former Pacers big man Tony Bradley, who was cut on Monday.