Desmond Bane vs Deni Avdija

durantbird · Post #1 » by **durantbird** » Sun Jun 15, 2025 3:14 pm

With reports on Memphis being interested in making a move for Avdija, interesting to explore - who do you think has the higher ceiling? And who is better right now?

Post #2 » by **penbeast0** » Sun Jun 15, 2025 4:29 pm

With the price Memphis just got for Bane, hopefully he will be more featured and not be relegated to 3rd/4th option in Orlando. I think he's proved more than Avdija; I have Deni's size with his skillset being less common so I would guess, giving perfect health and a normal developmental range for both from this point on (rather than regression for Deni), I'd say Avdija will probably be more valuable in the future.

durantbird · Post #3 » by **durantbird** » Sun Jun 15, 2025 4:43 pm

Funny, I posted it 5 minutes before the Bane trade announcement

Post #4 » by **tsherkin** » Sun Jun 15, 2025 8:22 pm

penbeast0 wrote:With the price Memphis just got for Bane, hopefully he will be more featured and not be relegated to 3rd/4th option in Orlando.

He is pretty much guaranteed to be their 3rd option behind Wagner and Banchero, no?

Post #5 » by **penbeast0** » Mon Jun 16, 2025 2:17 am

tsherkin wrote:
penbeast0 wrote:With the price Memphis just got for Bane, hopefully he will be more featured and not be relegated to 3rd/4th option in Orlando.

He is pretty much guaranteed to be their 3rd option behind Wagner and Banchero, no?

Suggs averaged 16.2 in 26 minutes in Orlando so he will be looking to get his touches too. I'd assume just from the price tag that Bane gets 2nd/3rd option shots but it's not guaranteed.

Post #6 » by **tsherkin** » Mon Jun 16, 2025 2:21 am

penbeast0 wrote:Suggs averaged 16.2 in 26 minutes in Orlando so he will be looking to get his touches too. I'd assume just from the price tag that Bane gets 2nd/3rd option shots but it's not guaranteed.

Yeah, but apart from 2024, Suggs has also sucked as a scorer. He was bombing 3s and blowing at it and like really isn't that kind of guy. He doesn't really look like a future significant scoring threat so much as a defense-first guy who can maybe, sometimes, not suck as a shooter.

Post #7 » by **penbeast0** » Mon Jun 16, 2025 2:27 am

24 was his 3rd season in the league when he was 22 years old . . . that's when you would expect a player to have a significant jump if he's going to be a good player. Last year he was injured more than half the year so we will see. A lot of it depends on how much Bane and Suggs each act as primary ballhandler. As I said, I expect Bane to handle more and shoot more but he's coming into a new environment. We will see.