At the tail-end of this past offseason, the Utah Jazz added Mo Bamba onto the back-end of their roster as a deeper depth piece to have within their frontcourt.
Bamba had spent the majority of last season either working his way through the G League or trying to find his footing within the NBA. He appeared in just four regular-season games between the Jazz and the Toronto Raptors, averaged just 2.5 points per game, and couldn't truly find his footing within a nightly rotation.
However, fast forward to the start of Bamba's 2026-27 season with the Jazz, and there's a good chance that the 2018 lottery pick has already made a strong pitch to become a more frequent part of Utah's lineup, which was proven in the midst of their latest loss vs. the Memphis Grizzlies.
In a game where the Jazz were forced to finish without either of their two All-Star forwards in Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. , as well as Jaxson Hayes being ruled out with a shoulder injury, it was Bamba who was called up to land a ton of minutes within the rotation that had been left over.
Bamba had 29 minutes against Memphis in an effort to bring some size, rebounding, and defensive upside to a lineup that was severely lacking those key traits. And pretty quickly, Bamba turned in that playing time for an extremely productive night.
Bamba finished with an impressive 14 points on 87.5% shooting from the field, paired with seven rebounds, one assist, and four blocks against Memphis.
Even in a close 105-110 loss, that type of production from their third-string center is sure to capture the attention of the Jazz coaching staff after the fact-- and might've just earned him a bigger role in the rotation in the immediate future.
And when you factor in all of the injuries that the Jazz are dealing with in their frontcourt after that Grizzlies game, Bamba projects to be a perfect fill-in to try and alleviate that lack of size.
On the Jazz's most recent injury report heading into their matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, there's a lot of concerns worth noting within their frontcourt.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is going to miss an extended amount of time . Jusuf Nurkic continues to wait for his first chance to get on the floor this season because of a foot injury. Even Lauri Markkanen and Jaxson Hayes are dealing with lingering issues that have them listed as questionable for Wednesday.
So without several of those pieces in the frontcourt, it puts Bamba in a position where he might simply be forced into a rotational role until the Jazz are back to being a bit healthier than they are now.
Oct 12, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz center Mo Bamba (44) reacts during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The only other true big men that the Jazz have to lean on in their frontcourt outside of the ones listed on the injury report on Wednesday are Kyle Filipowski, who's clearly still working back from his offseason back surgery, and Tony Bradley, who was just signed to Utah's roster less than two weeks ago.
Bamba stands out as the most obvious name to throw into the lineup in this case . And based on his latest performance against Memphis, Will Hardy and the Jazz coaching staff should be able to feel somewhat confident about his chances of sustained production.
Expect to see Bamba on the floor for as long as the Jazz are shorthanded as they are now, and if he continues to have the hot hand as he did earlier in the week as an efficient finisher and a strong shot blocker, it might be tough to keep him out of the rotation for the long term.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/jazz/onsi as Utah Jazz Have No Choice But to Give Mo Bamba More Minutes .
