Magic Land Desmond Bane From Grizzlies in Blockbuster Trade

The Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies have made a trade. Orlando is acquiring Desmond Bane for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, and four unprotected first-round draft picks.

ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported the news on social media.

“BREAKING: The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap, sources tell ESPN.”

This is the first major move of the offseason and comes at a surprising time. With the NBA Finals going on, most teams try to avoid at least announcing any big deals.

But it seems that the two teams wanted to get this done now, and this move could swing power in both conferences. This is a truly surprising move to begin the offseason.

For the Magic, they land a strong scoring option in Bane. Orlando was one of the better defensive teams in the NBA this past season, but the lack of consistent offense was a real problem.

Bane should help with that fact and give them a legitimate option next to star Paolo Banchero. Last season, Bane averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.

But his shooting from distance is a major reason why Orlando seemed to target him in a deal. Bane shot 39.2 percent from beyond the 3-point line this past season, offering the Magic a legitimate knock-down shooter.

While Bane does fit the Magic roster very well, this does seem like a little bit of an overpay. Trading four unprotected first-round picks for a non-All-Star is risky, but Orlando seems to have a plan.

Orlando also shed salary by dumping the contract of Caldwell-Pope, potentially opening things up for them down the line. But overall, even with the overpay, the Magic are a stronger team with Bane than they were previously.

For the Grizzlies, this could be the start of a potential rebuild. While the team still has Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis needed a reset from the past few years.

The Grizzlies could elect to use the newly acquired draft picks in a different trade to bolster the roster around the two stars. And adding Caldwell-Pope does give them a nice 3-and-D type of player.

Memphis has to keep up in the loaded Western Conference, and they now have more assets to make it happen. Overall, this deal is a win-win for both sides and is just the beginning of what is expected to be a wild offseason.

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