Desmond Bane trade grades: Magic, Grizzlies swap guards, but did Orlando give up too much?

New York Times

12 hours ago

Our first big summer move that doesn't involve a coach being fired, or the New York Knicks calling about a coach under contract, just happened. The Memphis Grizzlies have shocked a lot of people by agreeing to trade Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round pick swap.
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That's a lot of draft capital for Bane, and the Magic are hoping he'll be a great complement to their young duo of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. A complement to this trade news is a set of trade grades, where we'll slap down some red ink and figure out if we're complimenting one or all sides of the deal.
From a basketball standpoint, I like Bane finding a balance for what Orlando has been lacking. He's a great outside shooter, a very good defender and has turned into a good playmaker from the shooting guard position. The Magic desperately need the shooting and the playmaking, and they don't have to sacrifice defense to get it from him. If you take out his rookie year, Bane's career averages (over four years) are 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 47.2/40.7/88.7 shooting splits. Those are excellent, and he performed well when Ja Morant was out of the lineup. He's also averaged over five assists per game the last two seasons, so we're seeing improvement from him as a passer.
Bane will add a true floor-stretcher to give space for Bachero and Wagner to operate. He can run a two-man game with either of them as either the initiator or the screener. And throwing out a lineup of those three with either Jalen Suggs or Anthony Black as the other backcourt member and one of their solid big men in the middle gives the Magic a formidable approach on both ends of the floor. For a team that couldn't score last season, Bane will help out quite a bit.
My concern with this deal for Orlando is the cost. Caldwell-Pope and Anthony aren't too much to give up. Those are solid veterans, but Bane is better than both of those guys on your roster. The draft capital, however, is a lot for Bane with four firsts and a pick swap headed out. I have come around to thinking we focus too much on draft picks in trades and overvaluing them, in general. But that's when we're quibbling over a team including a future pick it wants to hold onto. Throwing four at a team for a player who is good but has never been an All-Star or award winner outside of All-Rookie seems like a lot. And the picks are all unprotected except for the pick swap, which is lightly protected. The Magic have to be really sure that Bane is going to be the guy who puts them into that upper tier in the Eastern Conference.
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The East is more open than most assumed it would be. Injuries to Milwaukee and Boston have changed a lot. Cleveland's rough exit brought excitement from others about the Cavs coming back down to earth. New York's coaching search might put its momentum on hold. And Orlando can reasonably look at what it has and believe it is a lot better than Detroit (depending on what the Pistons do this summer) and not far from the Pacers (who might end up NBA champions this week).
At the same time, this is expensive monetarily, too. Bane has roughly $162 million owed to him over the next four seasons. The Magic are well over $100 million in payroll for the next four seasons just from Bane, Wagner and Suggs. Banchero hasn't even received his extension yet, which will likely be agreed to in the coming months and kick in after the 2025-26 season. With those four under contract, the Magic will have to start worrying about the first- and second-apron thresholds in the collective bargaining agreement.
Until then, maybe they have a small window to capitalize with a young team, similar to the Thunder. It's not exactly the same formula, and it's more costly with picks and money (currently). But they're banking on Bane making them a power in the East.
Grade: B
Before we get into the basketball side on the court, let's get into the picks headed to Memphis. The Grizzlies are receiving the No. 16 in the 2025 draft, (most likely) Phoenix's pick in 2026, Orlando's pick in 2028, a top-two protected pick swap in 2029 and Orlando's pick in 2030. That is a lot.
As for the basketball of it all, the Grizzlies are downgrading on the court. Bane was great for them and integral to what they were able to do with and without Morant. Caldwell-Pope is a good veteran to replace him with some defense and outside shooting, but he's not nearly the scorer and distributor. They'll hope Anthony makes up for that part of it, and he'll be a very good backup guard for them. The Grizzlies are opting for more depth, which has often been a strength of this era of the franchise.
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They're also opting for more flexibility. The Grizzlies probably hit a ceiling with Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bane as their big three. And they have a contract extension situation coming up for Jackson that will be tricky. He's probably a max-contract guy because of the defense and accolades, and he's also improved as a scorer. But it's not a no-brainer to just slot that into your books in the second-apron era. They received a bit of a reprieve when he didn't qualify for the supermax extension by missing out on All-NBA, because that could be an awkward negotiation session.
Memphis is resetting things a little with the structure of its books by sending away Bane. It'll sacrifice on the court for now, but the Grizzlies can now figure out what this team looks like and how that gets structured with Tuomas Iisalo running the sidelines. They get to do that while bringing in all of that draft capital to use either as cost-effective roster additions (and this team is really good at identifying young talent) or in trades to bring in help for Morant and Jackson. It's a step down for now, but it's a good look toward the future.
Grade: A-
(Photo of Cole Anthony and Desmond Bane: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)