In one of the larger offseason moves to date, the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies completed a blockbuster deal to send Desmond Bane to the Sunshine State.
Heading back the other way are guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Cole Anthony, along with 4 unprotected 1st round picks, and a pick swap option in 2029. The entirety of the deal is as follows:
Orlando Magic get:
G Desmond Bane
Memphis Grizzlies get:
G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
G Cole Anthony
2025 first-round pick
2026 first-round pick (swap rights from Phoenix or Washington)
2028 first-round pick
2029 first-round pick swap
2030 first-round pick
“We are very thrilled to welcome Desmond to the Orlando Magic family,” said President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman. “Over his five years in the NBA, Desmond has distinguished himself as one of the elite guards in our league, and we look forward to his shooting, IQ, and wide-ranging skill set in helping our team take a step forward. Desmond’s character is held in high regard across the league and we believe he will fit seamlessly with our existing players both on and off the court.”
Bane averaged 19.2pts/6.1reb/5.3ast per game last season, and is a career 41% shooter from behind the 3 point line. While the deal on its surface appears to be an overpay by Orlando, those who have watched Magic games over the past few seasons know how desperately the team needs permitter shot making.
KCP was signed away from the Nuggets on a 3 year, $66M contract to ostensibly fill that need. However his time in Orlando didn’t pan out well for either side, making him an expendable piece for the Magic. With Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero serving as the cornerstones of the Magic’s future, and both generating most of their offence near the basket, Orlando was always going to be in the market for a 3 and D style player.
The 6’5″ shooting guard out of TCU appears to check off multiple areas of need for Magic. Though he’s yet to so much as even make an All-Star team in his 5 year career, the Magic’s front office clearly sees him as a versatile piece that can help them get over the hump in the postseason.
Between Caldwell-Pope, Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black, Jett Howard, Caleb Houston, Cory Joseph, Trevelin Queen, and Cole Anthony, there were too many similar skill sets on the Magic roster, and not enough minutes and touches to go around. Alleviating that log jam likely helps their rotation settle into more predictable minutes in 2025-26.
The team’s front office undoubtedly took a look at Indiana’s surprise run to the NBA Finals, as well as the New York Knicks deep runs and figured the Eastern Conference was perhaps more open than it’s been in years. In some ways, the trade mirrors that of the Knicks acquisition of Mikal Bridges, which the club jettisoned multiple first round picks and swaps to pull off.
Meanwhile in Memphis, while losing Bane will hurt in the short term, evidently management didn’t believe that a “Big 3” of Ja Morant, Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. was enough to compete for a title in the West. Adding Anthony and KCP helps with their depth, but not their top end talent. Restocking their draft capital certainly helps, but only if the front office plans to make a big swing in the offseason.
The trade ultimately adds salary to Memphis’ cap situation, which hurts their efforts to sign JJJ to a long term deal. And usually when a team is purposefully creating space, only to then make a trade no one saw coming, it’s an indication that another move is already in the works.
What that ultimately ends up being remains to be seen. But for now, Memphis’ roster got deeper, but their title odds likely shrunk in the process as well.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.