Desmond Bane trade grades: The Magic unveil a new act
Desmond Bane will be a snug fit, but he didn't come cheap
The Magic need shooting.
You know that, I know that, and the Memphis Grizzlies sure as heck knew it, extracting a ransom in return for Desmond Bane in a surprise Father’s Day trade (happy day to all the dads out there! I’m incurring my wife’s wrath for writing this article, so please consider an upgrade to make this worth my while).
The trade:
Orlando receives: Desmond Bane
Memphis receives: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, the 16th pick in the 2025 draft, a 2026 first-round pick from the Suns, a 2028 first-round pick, a 2030 first-round pick, and a 2029 top-two-protected first-round swap. All the picks are reportedly unprotected.
Frankly, Bane is a laser-cut fit for the Orlando Magic. The shooting is the highlight here, and it’s sublime. Bane’s worst three-point shooting season: 38% on nearly nine attempts per game in ‘23-24, when he shouldered a much larger offensive load without Ja Morant. He is the best shooter the Magic have had since… JJ Redick? Don’t quote me on that, but it’s been a minute.
Unlike the off-ball superstar Redick, Bane is a massive threat both with and without the ball. He actually launched more threes off the dribble (3.4) than off the catch (2.7) last year, shooting 38% and 42%, respectively. When he has the rock, he only needs to see a sliver of daylight to launch from the suburbs:
And while he isn’t a Redickian-level mover, he knows how to distort defenses with half-random sprints around the court, seeking his shot:
If anything, Bane doesn’t shoot enough threes. You won’t hear me say this often about a ballhandler, but he does a little too much driving for my liking; let that thing fly! 6.1 attempts per game is a tick too low for a shooter of his caliber, and given how many on-ball threats the Magic have, I’d expect that to jump up this year to eight-ish per match. He’s been more aggressive in the past, so he knows how to get them up.
The shooting even works geographically. Bane is at his best shooting from the right side of the arc, where he’s nearly automatic; the Magic’s tentpole stars, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, prefer the left. Their natural comfort zones are complementary instead of overlapping, which is ideal.
But Bane isn’t some delicate waif drifting around the perimeter like a plastic bag in the breeze. He’s an A-to-B bulldozer in transition. He wants to get to the hoop, where he’s finished 68% of his shots over the last two seasons (a strong mark). He has a fun scoop/hook shot (one that Jalen Williams is making famous in these Finals) that looks awkward but goes in at deadly rates, and he has a similarly unconventional-looking floater:
Bane’s bag overflows with layups, paint shots, midranges, and threes — Dean Oliver’s four-level scorer, in the flesh.
Bane is a natural two-guard, but he has spent a lot of time running the offense and playing point guard, too. The Magic have many good ballhandlers, but adding a guy capable of bringing the ball up when Jalen Suggs inevitably misses time with injury is an underrated benefit. Bane finished about a quarter of his possessions running pick-and-roll, per Synergy — more than Russell Westbrook or LeBron James.
Bane’s passing has become quite good. I liked this play from the regular season in which Bane gets to an advantageous spot, but sees rookie center Zach Edey in an even better one. The only problem? A defender is in the way. So Bane, with no intention of shooting, cleverly jumps and cocks back a short fadeaway, drawing the defender to him and opening up an easy floater for Edey:
The floor-mapping has improved tremendously over the years. He can make split-second decisions in mid-air without an issue:
Bane is big enough and quick enough to guard one through four, and the Grizzlies did not hesitate to sic him onto elite options: His top defensive matchups last year were Kevin Durant and Trey Murphy III. Short arms don’t help generate turnovers, but his watermelon biceps and thick chest excel in strength-based battles. Also, there’s never a question of effort. Bane tries hard, and he’s good. Bane even became a strong defensive rebounder (96th percentile for wings last season), putting terminal punctuation on opposing possessions.
Bane isn’t as lockdown as the outgoing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on defense, but he’s so much better on offense. With Wagner and Suggs guarding the other team’s best big and little players, Bane won’t have to do as much defensively, anyway.
The Magic lose little on that end while tremendously upgrading around the arc. That’s a big win for a team that can make a real run at a top-three seed with better health luck.
Bane is an efficient scorer, a good passer, an improved rebounder, and a solid defender. There is almost nothing he isn’t at least passable at on the basketball court, and his greatest strength is the Magic’s greatest weakness. If we’re looking at basketball and basketball only, this is an A+ trade.
But nothing happens in a vacuum.