Bamba taken No. 6 by Magic
A&M’s Williams to Celtics; Suns get Tech’s Smith
Not long after his only college season ended, Mo Bamba gathered his belongings and left Texas — the state and the school — behind. He had only three months to prove to NBA coaches, scouts and executives that he could do all the things they thought he could not. The work paid off. The Orlando Magic on Thursday selected Bamba with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He is the eighth lottery pick produced by UT and highest selection since Tristan Thompson went No. 4 to Cleveland in 2011.
Magic brass are hopeful Bamba can build a bridge to a new era of prosperity. The team has not qualified for the postseason since 2012-13 and has won more than 30 games only once during that span.
“I think he’s a guy that can become a face of a franchise,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “When you talk about marketability, he has an unbelievable personality. You guys got a sense of it to some extent. But he has even more to him, and he’s extremely bright.
“I mean, the guy got a 30 on his ACT. I challenge you to try and find another first-round pick that got a 30 on his ACT. Intellectually and in terms of his emotional intelligence, he is in a class by himself.”
Texas A&M forward Robert Williams slipped in the first round but found a nice landing spot with the Celtics.
Projected by many as a possible lottery pick (to the Clippers at 13), Williams instead kept dropping.
Boston, which reached the Eastern Conference finals, took him at No. 27.
The 6-10 big man helped lead the Aggies to the Sweet 16 last season. He averaged 10.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
Williams could be paired with Celtics forward Al Horford to form a formidable front court. Boston and was one game away from the NBA Finals this season.
Williams was considered a lottery-level talent by many, but questions about his attitude and work ethic, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, made him fall out of the top-20.
The Celtics sounded happy to get him. “He’s an elite athlete with incredible length,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
While Williams slipped, Tech’s Zhaire Smith had an interesting welcome to the NBA.
Smith, a freshman guard, was selected 16th overall by the Suns but then was shipped to the 76ers for Mikal Bridges, who had been taken 10th by Philadelphia.
Bridges was born in Philadelphia and played three seasons for Villanova. His mother is the 76ers’ vice president of human resources. Selecting Bridges made a great story, but then they traded him.
Smith becomes the latest step in “The Process” for Philadelphia, which was eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“It's a blessing to end up with the Sixers,” Smith said. “I worked out twice (for them), so I knew they were really interested and I knew (coach Brett Brown) liked me.”
The 6-5 freshman guard averaged 11.3 points, 5 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Red Raiders last season. He helped lead Texas Tech to the Elite Eight.
“They run in transition and I'd like to be a part of that,” Smith said. “Ben Simmons, he can bring it up and make good passes. I'm a good cutter so he can make me look good.”
Kentucky forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who played for Victory Prep in high school, was taken by Orlando with the 41st pick, but his rights were reportedly traded to the Nuggets.
There were a few glaring negatives Bamba needed to erase in order to ease concerns held by interested parties, so he focused on expunging those with a rigorous pre-draft training routine.
“These next three months, I’m basically going to be a caveman,” Bamba said in March. “Just work.”
He refined his jump shot, fixated on creating a quicker, more fluid release and extended his range comfortably beyond the 3point arc. He ate and ate and ate and, gradually, muscle began to sprout all over his 7-foot frame. He structured workouts and training sessions around a gauntlet of media obligations, same as any “franchise face” might. Bamba wanted no questions to linger over an internal motor some deemed too finicky.
Bamba spent hours and hours training in California alongside athletic trainer Drew Hanlen, whose tutelage has helped youngsters like Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, and Bradley Beal grow into some of the league’s brightest emerging stars. He openly speaks of pilfering moves and routines from the elite to mold himself into a hoops-minded Frankenstein’s monster, though he ultimately desires only to be the best version of Mo Bamba.