Free agent center Mohamed Bamba is signing a 10-day contract with the Pelicans, agents Mark Bartelstein and Greer Love tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
As our roster count tracker shows, New Orleans currently has an opening on its 15-man roster, which means no corresponding move will be necessary to add Bamba.
Bamba, 26 was traded from the Clippers to the Jazz ahead of last month’s deadline and was subsequently released by Utah. He has been a free agent since early February.
A former lottery pick, Bamba was unable to carve out a consistent role in his four-plus seasons with Orlando, the team that selected him sixth overall back in 2018. He was traded to the Lakers in February 2023, but only played nine games for the club due to injury.
Bamba signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with Philadelphia in the summer of 2023. Last offseason, he inked the same type of deal with the Clippers.
In 28 games with the Clips in 2024/25, Bamba averaged 4.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 block in 12.6 minutes per contest. He posted a shooting slash line of .466/.300/.680 while backing up Ivica Zubac.
Bamba will serve as a depth piece in a Pelicans frontcourt that also features Yves Missi, Zion Williamson, Kelly Olynyk and Karlo Matkovic, among others.