The Utah Jazz have waived a former elite lottery prospect who is now striving to just carve out a rotation role on an NBA roster.
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According to a team press release, Utah has cut floor-stretching center Mo Bamba plus guards Pedro Bradshaw and Sean East II, just days prior to the start of Utah’s season. The Jazz will play their first game of 2025-26 at home against the LA Clippers on Wednesday.
Neither Bradshaw nor East has appeared in a single NBA game as of this writing, although Bamba has certainly played his share.
Is Bamba’s NBA Career Over?
The 27-year-old big man, a 7-footer out of the University of Texas at Austin, was selected with the No. 6 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, ahead of future MVP Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (the No. 11 pick), future All-NBA Second Team New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson (No. 33), future All-Defensive Knicks wing Mikal Bridges (No. 10), and quality starters Miles Bridges (No. 12) and Michael Porter Jr. (No. 14, although in fairness he fell in the draft due to injury concerns).
Several solid rotation pieces also emerged in that draft, including Wendell Carter Jr. (No. 7), Collin Sexton (No. 8), Donte DiVincenzo (No. 17), Kevin Huerter (No. 19), Grayson Allen (No. 21), Anfernee Simons (No. 24) and Mitchell Robinson (No. 36).
But Bamba — like No. 2 pick Marvin Bagley III, No. 9 pick Kevin Knox II, and No. 13 pick Jerome Robinson — is hovering around