Magic reportedly acquire Desmond Bane: Fantasy impact
While the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder are still competing in the NBA Finals, the rest of the NBA is focused on the future. For the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic, that meant making a significant trade on Sunday, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Headed to Orlando is shooting guard Desmond Bane, and the Magic gave up a lot to acquire his services. Here's a look at how the trade impacts fantasy basketball in 2025-26.
Orlando receives:
Desmond Bane
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While his scoring average decreased this season, Bane's availability improved after being unable to hit 60 games in either of the prior two campaigns. In 69 appearances, he averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.4 three-pointers in 32.0 minutes. Shooting 48.4 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from three and 89.4 percent from the foul line, Bane was a third-round player in eight- and nine-cat formats. Heading to a team that's in dire need of perimeter shooting may raise his fantasy ceiling, even with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner due to have the basketball in their hands quite often. Bane entered last season with a Yahoo! ADP of 44; he may go a bit earlier in standard league drafts.
Having a shooter of Bane's caliber in the lineup should improve the spacing for Wagner and Banchero, with the former averaging a career-high 4.7 assists per game this season. Banchero has been a better option for points leagues than category leagues for much of his NBA career, but he did provide top-100 value in eight-cat formats in 2024-25. Also worth watching from a fantasy standpoint will be Jalen Suggs, who was a sixth-round player before going down with a season-ending quad injury in early March. Playing alongside Bane should also benefit Suggs, but he's only exceeded 55 games once in his first four seasons.
Memphis receives:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
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Cole Anthony
2025 first-round pick
2026 first-round pick via Phoenix
2028 first-round pick
2030 first-round pick
2029 first-round pick swap (lightly protected)
The Grizzlies' decision to part ways with Bane nets the franchise a significant haul in terms of draft capital; are they done, or will some of those picks be used to add a star to the lineup? The 2025 pick gets Memphis back into the first round after sending their pick (18th overall) to Washington as part of the Marcus Smart trade consummated at the February deadline.
As for the players Memphis has acquired, Caldwell-Pope appears well-positioned to slot into the spot left vacant by Bane. KCP struggled in Orlando this season, averaging 8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 three-pointers in 77 appearances. While solid defensively, Caldwell-Pope's scoring average was his lowest since his rookie season (2013-14). Also, his 34.2 percent mark from beyond the arc was KCP's lowest since 2015-16. He would finish the regular season outside the top-150 in eight- and nine-cat formats. The change of scenery may be a positive for Caldwell-Pope, but he should once again be no better than a late-round option in standard leagues.
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Anthony may also benefit from a move, as the 2024-25 season was his least productive in five years with the Magic. Appearing in 67 games, he averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.1 three-pointers in 18.4 minutes, shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 82.3 percent from the foul line. Due to Suggs' injury-related absences, Anthony made 22 starts, but he was not productive enough to become a reliable streamer in most leagues. Anthony finished the season ranked well outside the top-200 in eight- and nine-cat formats, and that does not appear likely to change in Memphis.
In addition to having Ja Morant, the Grizzlies' confidence in Scotty Pippen Jr. increased throughout the 2024-25 season. By the end of his time in Orlando, Anthony was not a lock for rotation minutes, and he may be headed for a similar situation with the Grizzlies.
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