BREAKING: Magic acquire Desmond Bane (KCP, Cole + 4 1st Round Picks + 1 1st Round Pick Swap)

[AR86]

In my opinion, it was a great trade. We gave up four first-round picks, but also got rid of the expensive KCP (under contract for two more years) and received a very, very good support star who’s just entering his prime — and already signed. It’s a huge upgrade. I never expected this.

Actually, I think Bane is a much better addition to our team than Young, Ball, or anyone else who was discussed.

Picks are, of course, important assets... but now, with Paolo and Franz stepping up, it’s time to pay. Unless there are major injuries, those picks will likely be in the 20s (again: TDS, Cole, Jett, Chuma, Bamba…)

Once again, I never expected this.

In my opinion, I agree. I didn't expect this.

The "unprotected" part is what stings. That feels like a huge overpay in the world of "conditional 1st up the wazoo". Yet, if it pans out, these picks will be essential role players at best and we didn't give up so many of them (2 of our own) that I feel like we were robbed.

This was, in essence, a job saving / ending move by the front office. It was closing time at the bar, your time to make a move to acquire the player you should have years ago is up. You don't do it today, your team is in salary cap hades and reliant on those first 4 1st picks to find a diamond in the rough or win the lotto in terms of sleeper picks.

Unless you're the Lakers, Dallas, Miami, or New York etc., you have to pay — you simply don’t have any other leverage.
On top of that, what player of a similar level, from a strong team and with real playoff experience, could realistically come here?

Young is solid, but he doesn’t play defense. Ball is a streetball-style player who’s just chasing stats, nothing more. An old, injury-prone Lillard? No thanks.

This trade actually reminds me of the Siakam trade to Indiana — except he was already 29 at the time, and they gave up four assets, including three first-round picks. Very similar situation.

[jezzerinho]

Interesting conversation on 96.9 the game with Weltman, basically this was our all-in move and kept depth. I would be shocked if we made another move outside of using the MLE and taking a PF/C at 25. I'm also not sure Moe Wagner is coming back unless he takes a stupid cheap deal or a 1 year deal.

Moe isn't coming back unless it's a cheap rehab deal because he's not yet fit. Even then it'll be 1 yr and then Moe is gone.

I watched the German "day in the life" doc of the 2 brothers and Moe was NOT HAPPY about the deals he was being offered by Orlando initially, which are way higher than we could realistically afford now.

Moe is not accepting chump change and I don't see why he should. Unless he's still crocked and he basically extends to rehab more.

[89Magicfan]

So I didn’t know a whole lot about Bane so my initial reaction was out of pure ignorance. I viewed him as a nothing more than a 3-D type but after seeing some of his work when Ja went out as a main ball handler, I became a little more intrigued. I can see what the FO was thinking and yeah it was a slight over pay with the Phoenix pick but I do like that they went into this direction than Poole (low bbiq) and CJ (age, timeline) .

Shows they at least did some in depth homework. They saw a guy whose strengths match some of our weaknesses. I don’t know if this puts us up there with Indy but it’s a positive step.

Let’s see what else they do. I don’t think they are done.

[JoshuaPotter]

In my opinion, it was a great trade. We gave up four first-round picks, but also got rid of the expensive KCP (under contract for two more years) and received a very, very good support star who’s just entering his prime — and already signed. It’s a huge upgrade. I never expected this.

Actually, I think Bane is a much better addition to our team than Young, Ball, or anyone else who was discussed.

Picks are, of course, important assets... but now, with Paolo and Franz stepping up, it’s time to pay. Unless there are major injuries, those picks will likely be in the 20s (again: TDS, Cole, Jett, Chuma, Bamba…)

Once again, I never expected this.

In my opinion, I agree. I didn't expect this.

The "unprotected" part is what stings. That feels like a huge overpay in the world of "conditional 1st up the wazoo". Yet, if it pans out, these picks will be essential role players at best and we didn't give up so many of them (2 of our own) that I feel like we were robbed.

This was, in essence, a job saving / ending move by the front office. It was closing time at the bar, your time to make a move to acquire the player you should have years ago is up. You don't do it today, your team is in salary cap hades and reliant on those first 4 1st picks to find a diamond in the rough or win the lotto in terms of sleeper picks.

Unless you're the Lakers, Dallas, Miami, or New York etc., you have to pay — you simply don’t have any other leverage.
On top of that, what player of a similar level, from a strong team and with real playoff experience, could realistically come here?

Young is solid, but he doesn’t play defense. Ball is a streetball-style player who’s just chasing stats, nothing more. An old, injury-prone Lillard? No thanks.

This trade actually reminds me of the Siakam trade to Indiana — except he was already 29 at the time, and they gave up four assets, including three first-round picks. Very similar situation.

Well if you are giving up 4 1st I would like to think that opens the options up some. That being said, we agree wwwaaayyy more then any disagreement I can come up with short term. I simply do not have the BBIQ to name players and salaries.

I earlier mentioned we overpayed Lewis, and arguably even though it was a steal we gave Hedo an MLE deal and that was considered near overpay too. So what I am getting at is ; yes you are correct. Small market teams just won't be able to look generational talent and grab Luka for an aging Anthony Davis.

[Skybox]

and i thought i remember hearing about a new offensive assistant coach. we can only hope

This might be the biggest remaining issue...we can fill out the roster with margin moves, trades, vet min signings, late draft picks - even into second round...

But, getting the big 4 (and AB, to some degree -hopefully, to a large degree) to work together seamlessly on the offensive end, is the BIG deal. Having 4 or 5 guys averaging over 5 assists sounds amazing, but it'll take a lot more orchestration than the previous offensive scheme of "Roll the ball out to Paolo and let him cook"...There needs to be a total re-work of the offense. As Paolo's Mama pointed out - roles need to be clarified and people need to know what they're jobs are. Suggs and Bane could easily end up as the highest paid Paolo fans in the building if they end up trying to solve it themselves. We need a ton more motion, a ton more clarity, some staggering of minutes to compensate for the lack of offensive depth (which is fine-Franz has been fantastic leading the second unit).

Heady vets at the end of the bench and a younger version of Nick Nurse as the super creative "Offensive Coordinator" would complete the summer.

[eyriq]

So let me get this straight Weltman upgraded

Gary Harris
To
KCP
To
Bane

In 3 seasons and Orlando still doesn’t have a point guard on the roster.

He still doesn’t get that the offense is bad because of ball movement.

This has been the most fascinating and interesting debate of the whole summer to me.

The push and pull between we need playmaking more than shooting. Or shooting more than playmaking.

It feels like our board came out 60% for playmaking over shooting, as opposed to 40% the other way around.

I went with the 40% opinion because Franz and Paolo are the monsters that opposing teams can’t solve. And they are still too young for me.
You can’t pluck a Haliburton out of nowhere either. If CoJo was getting us into offensive sets quite well like he did then we also don’t need to go as crazy on a playmaking upgrade as we thought. In some ways, I think a pure PG and a pure Center with switchable defensive skill are now much easier to scout for the Magic than any other positions. We know all the other starting spots and the top 7-ish rotation. Any PG’s and Bigs we look at get that extra level of accurate scouting — how do they fit precisely next to the 3-man and 4-man combos of Bane, Suggs, Franz, Paolo.

Great post. I agree that CoJo showed how helpful even low-usage organization can be, but I’m not convinced we need to go shopping at PG. AB is still my pick as the long-term answer there and he needs reps, not a replacement. At center, it’s less about a scouting opportunity and more about untangling what we already have. Between WCJ, Goga, Moritz, and JI, we’ve got bodies, but no clear direction. The Bane trade clarified the top 6, and now it’s about letting the back end settle into place.

[Instincts]

There seems to be huge gap between what most fans on forum here think in contrast of how rest of people ( General Board, Reddit, Twitter, youtubers ) view this move.

What makes this gap, to me, seems to be answering different questions.


This trade can be viewed through several key talking points, and based on different question, you will be led in different direction to asset quality of a move.

Two splitting directions come from answering two different questions at once:
1) Did Magic get better?
2) Are Magic now contender/ favorites?
3) supporting questions would be: fit, salary cap etc.

1)Short answer to first question is yes. Bane is very good player. You get legit player that has been for past 4 years 20-21 ppg player on 58-60% TS, 4-5 assists and rebounds.


But answering to second question is driving force in contrasted opinions among board vs rest of the world.
Magic gave up Mikal Bridges / Rudy Gobert / Durant to Suns / Pierce and KG on Nets type of haul for Desmond Bane.

Desmond Bane is 27 years old, 0 times all star, 0 times all nba, 0 times anything player. All above mentioned names were established stars but Mikal. But Mikal played in nba finals, Mikal was 2# in DPOY voting in 2022 and Mikal only costs $20M a year.
Also just because other similar trades happen, that doesn't mean this one makes them justifiable, nor that this one is justifiable. It's not. It's ugly overpay for above average player who is btw, on overpaid via being max contract player in era where we should finally stop throwing max contracts at every single above average player.

And back to answering question two. Are Magic now contenders? Maybe? Like, they are not favorites to win East, in comparison to some teams from West, they are not. It's not like OKC is going anywhere any time soon. Rockets still have +50 wins team + all the picks. Lebron/Luka/Lakers are a thing. Cavs are going nowhere. Pacers still have all the picks but 26 one.

Bane isn't point guard. You can try to spin this narrative to fit opinion and justify trade from fit POV, but he simply isn't point guard. He is guy who can make plays, in regular season. Who was trusted to run PG in 2023-24 as guard, but without any pressure of result. 27-55 team and 30# ranked offense as a result (as he got hurt and missed half of the season ).
This year Grizzlies tried this no pick&roll gimmick. Worked wonders for half of a season, until it didn't. After it stopped working, they went from 2# seed to play in, and into 4 games series vs OKC in one of worst beatdowns i can remember in modern nba history. But once again, trying to run offense without traditional pg duty, does not make him point guard ( also Morant played 50 games and they were better with Morant than without him, as expected) .

So, addition of yet another NOT play maker still leaves Magic with same problems, against elite teams. When it's time to have safe ball handler with a ball, making calls and calling plays in close games. Magic again won't have that natural lead- guard to do so.
Only difference is that now 2 iso scorers will be offset with one great catch&shoot,shoot off dribble guy. Can it solve offense ? Maybe.
Will be helpful, but still not solving existing issue.


Overall this is endgame of rebuild. Magic played all their hands in poker betting on strong hand, but not strongest hand. With pretty much all tradable picks gone, you can't just "fix" this any more without firesale, nor will firesale return you lost picks. This is it.


When you look at salary cap, it's dire situation pass 25-26. For 27-28 Magic will have +$200M payroll in 6 men, without any objective way how to get better but to resign current players, vet minimum guys and find second round picks worth anything.

Historically, going all in makes sense if you are close and/or if guy you go all in is top 10 player.
Magic got neither top 10-15 player nor are close to winning title. Shorter teams it will make team better, mid term makes them capped out on 4 players, 2 can maybe become top 15 players and 2 on max deals that won't crack top 20 at any point.
Long term is just flat out bad due how much cap capital is gone.


I'm not biggest pick-lover, it's no secret, but because how new CBA is set picks are more valuable than ever. Trading 5 first round picks, 4 without any protection on it for not top 10 player is simply dumb move.

When you take in consideration all of this, giving this trade more than C would feel like short sighted look.
Pros:
- makes team better
- solves some problems
- helps worst shooting team of decade not be that any more
- helps playmaking a little bit

Cons:
- epic overpay
- selling picks in years when picks are way too valuable to trade them like that
- still not title contender
- traded player is overpaid on it's own

Ultimate bet: 4 not top 15 players can win you a title with almost no bench, as salary tied into them will peal away remaining good players year after year.

Legitimate concerns.

When I read your post it reinforces what most of us know intuitively. The team needs Franz Wagner to return to his 3pt shooting form and maximize his potential.

Question for you.

If Franz Wagner 3pt shooting returns to 37% next year. Where do you think he as a 6’10” true TWO WAY wing with elite driving skills PEAKS as a player in his PRIME years?? Use 2025 MVP list below as a reference point.

In my opinion your legitimate concerns above do not give enough weight to the possibility of a Fran Wagner ascendency.

I bet on Fran Wagner and I believe the Magic organization have made the same bet.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC 913
Nikola Jokić, Denver 787
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee 470
Jayson Tatum, Boston 311
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland 74
LeBron James, LA Lakers 16
Cade Cunningham, Detroit 12
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota 12
Stephen Curry, Golden State 2
Jalen Brunson, New York 1
James Harden, LA Clippers 1
Evan Mobley, Cleveland 0

[fendilim]

Interesting conversation on 96.9 the game with Weltman, basically this was our all-in move and kept depth. I would be shocked if we made another move outside of using the MLE and taking a PF/C at 25. I'm also not sure Moe Wagner is coming back unless he takes a stupid cheap deal or a 1 year deal.

Moe isn't coming back unless it's a cheap rehab deal because he's not yet fit. Even then it'll be 1 yr and then Moe is gone.

I watched the German "day in the life" doc of the 2 brothers and Moe was NOT HAPPY about the deals he was being offered by Orlando initially, which are way higher than we could realistically afford now.

Moe is not accepting chump change and I don't see why he should. Unless he's still crocked and he basically extends to rehab more.

Does he even have other options other than our offer?

[yoyojw17]

Pepe, I think you've gone from being a voice of reason on the delicate balance the FO just played themselves into, to doubling down on the overpay message way too much.

It's an overpay. That's barely up for debate. But not the egregious overpay you're suggesting. Siakam is probably the closest comparator in terms of level of player and recency. But Siakam was an expiring. Raptors had no leverage as Pacers had no certaintly to retain Pascal.

This deal is different. I think it's an overpay still and I really wonder if he's the best fit for what we need, but I don't think it's egregious.

What annoys me is Weltman acting one year late, having to back out of the KCP disaster he signed only a year before, missing out on the cap space he then had. I agree with Pepe that it was a bit of a panic move.

But as panic moves go, I could be a lot unhappier.

As to whether it will or won't turn us into a contender, there will be 100,000 words written here on the topic before the Game 1 tipoff of the next regular season - let alone next playoffs. And all of.those words will be worthless because we just don't know.

If - and it's a VERY big if - we can give Franz more initiation duties because his jumper is at least league average, if Suggs plays 60 RS games and the playoffs, if Paolo is team-first enough to defer a good chunk of usage possessions to the other 3 and if Bane's 3pt% holds up...... with all of those happening I think we can contend for a finals spot.

If it turns into another KCP 2.0 situation, we're royally screwed. But that seems unlikely.

This to me is in hindsight..... KCP by many pundits was a great addition. This team doesn't get injured.... KCP has the same season.... we probably would still not be having this discussion because... there is less arguing when you're winning. Glaring weaknesses were exposed as injuries occurred as well. We didn't have much to rely on when the big two and Moe were out. Everything fell apart.

But.... through everything that happened, we still made a it to .500 and into the playoffs. There are so many moving parts right now. Even our 1a and 1b are far away from their primes... shoot... I would still say that they are 25-35% away from their potential. They solidified themselves as bonified scorers again this season.... but as HIGH usage players they're is still a ways to go for them on playmaking. Franz also has to work on his shooting again... and at least get to being a passable threat. In the same season.... we saw many regressions, KCP, JI, Wendell, etc. and also had multiple young players that are trying to establish themselves in the league. So much.... not going in our direction.... but still we were able to make it into the playoffs... and lost to a more experienced and well-established team in the Boston celtics.... while still not being a shadow of the initial expectations the FO had at the beginning of the season. Missing Suggs and Moe.... were huge for us this season.

So from the point of view of the FO.... there is a 2-3 year window that we can strike while the iron is hot. I don't see it is a panic move.... but a strategic move. We went for a player that most people didn't even know would have been available. And we got him using players that many on this board would have traded for a bag of peanuts. Expensive peanuts at that. haha. But they turned those players into a person that they believe would be and ideal fit.... all without having to sacrifice your defensive potential and he fits the culture and timeline.

People have complained about how we never use pick for anything other than "cash considerations".... state that we have too many young players to develop and not enough space to give them to level up.... and are now mad that we gave up every other pick for the next couple years... slowing our intake of players for the near future.

I know we are going to be battling 2nd apron within the next year.... but in that case.... that means that the FO has informed the owners that we have a legitimate window available. I think they will see what kind of noise that they can make within the next 2-3 years. And they don't make this deal unless the owners agreed to it. Haha.... people complained that they were cheap.... they just didn't want to open their pockets for the Vuc era.

And the best thing about this is.... IF we need a soft reset... we can recoup draft capital and players as all of our assets will be entering or well in the prime years... unlike what Boston would be facing at this point trying to sell off older players on expensive contracts.

And this is all before discussing how Bane may have all the things that could push us over the hump.... while not even knowing how good we could have been in a healthy season with an inferior player in KCP (shoot... we might be where the Pacers are now for all we know)

No matter what I say.... it's not going to matter until the dreamt future converge with the present. Praying that this works out... to me it works out on paper. But there are infinite things that will be needed to get us to our goal.... but i think this puts us on a great path to start that journey.

My only problem with everything now is.... how long i have to wait to see us in action. lol

[tiderulz]

[qu

There seems to be huge gap between what most fans on forum here think in contrast of how rest of people ( General Board, Reddit, Twitter, youtubers ) view this move.

What makes this gap, to me, seems to be answering different questions.


This trade can be viewed through several key talking points, and based on different question, you will be led in different direction to asset quality of a move.

Two splitting directions come from answering two different questions at once:
1) Did Magic get better?
2) Are Magic now contender/ favorites?
3) supporting questions would be: fit, salary cap etc.

1)Short answer to first question is yes. Bane is very good player. You get legit player that has been for past 4 years 20-21 ppg player on 58-60% TS, 4-5 assists and rebounds.


But answering to second question is driving force in contrasted opinions among board vs rest of the world.
Magic gave up Mikal Bridges / Rudy Gobert / Durant to Suns / Pierce and KG on Nets type of haul for Desmond Bane.

Desmond Bane is 27 years old, 0 times all star, 0 times all nba, 0 times anything player. All above mentioned names were established stars but Mikal. But Mikal played in nba finals, Mikal was 2# in DPOY voting in 2022 and Mikal only costs $20M a year.
Also just because other similar trades happen, that doesn't mean this one makes them justifiable, nor that this one is justifiable. It's not. It's ugly overpay for above average player who is btw, on overpaid via being max contract player in era where we should finally stop throwing max contracts at every single above average player.

And back to answering question two. Are Magic now contenders? Maybe? Like, they are not favorites to win East, in comparison to some teams from West, they are not. It's not like OKC is going anywhere any time soon. Rockets still have +50 wins team + all the picks. Lebron/Luka/Lakers are a thing. Cavs are going nowhere. Pacers still have all the picks but 26 one.

Bane isn't point guard. You can try to spin this narrative to fit opinion and justify trade from fit POV, but he simply isn't point guard. He is guy who can make plays, in regular season. Who was trusted to run PG in 2023-24 as guard, but without any pressure of result. 27-55 team and 30# ranked offense as a result (as he got hurt and missed half of the season ).
This year Grizzlies tried this no pick&roll gimmick. Worked wonders for half of a season, until it didn't. After it stopped working, they went from 2# seed to play in, and into 4 games series vs OKC in one of worst beatdowns i can remember in modern nba history. But once again, trying to run offense without traditional pg duty, does not make him point guard ( also Morant played 50 games and they were better with Morant than without him, as expected) .

So, addition of yet another NOT play maker still leaves Magic with same problems, against elite teams. When it's time to have safe ball handler with a ball, making calls and calling plays in close games. Magic again won't have that natural lead- guard to do so.
Only difference is that now 2 iso scorers will be offset with one great catch&shoot,shoot off dribble guy. Can it solve offense ? Maybe.
Will be helpful, but still not solving existing issue.


Overall this is endgame of rebuild. Magic played all their hands in poker betting on strong hand, but not strongest hand. With pretty much all tradable picks gone, you can't just "fix" this any more without firesale, nor will firesale return you lost picks. This is it.


When you look at salary cap, it's dire situation pass 25-26. For 27-28 Magic will have +$200M payroll in 6 men, without any objective way how to get better but to resign current players, vet minimum guys and find second round picks worth anything.

Historically, going all in makes sense if you are close and/or if guy you go all in is top 10 player.
Magic got neither top 10-15 player nor are close to winning title. Shorter teams it will make team better, mid term makes them capped out on 4 players, 2 can maybe become top 15 players and 2 on max deals that won't crack top 20 at any point.
Long term is just flat out bad due how much cap capital is gone.


I'm not biggest pick-lover, it's no secret, but because how new CBA is set picks are more valuable than ever. Trading 5 first round picks, 4 without any protection on it for not top 10 player is simply dumb move.

When you take in consideration all of this, giving this trade more than C would feel like short sighted look.
Pros:
- makes team better
- solves some problems
- helps worst shooting team of decade not be that any more
- helps playmaking a little bit

Cons:
- epic overpay
- selling picks in years when picks are way too valuable to trade them like that
- still not title contender
- traded player is overpaid on it's own

Ultimate bet: 4 not top 15 players can win you a title with almost no bench, as salary tied into them will peal away remaining good players year after year.

here are my points.
1 - who cares what people on GB, Twitter, etc think about a trade. really, who cares? does it affect the team and the product on the court? no, so big deal.

2 - did the Magic get better? absolutely. Their now core 4, when healthy, can compete with almost any team in the East and many teams in the West. Yes, we lose some 1st rounders, but the front office had been hit or miss with those anyways (Jett, Cole, Chuma, etc). we still have 1st rounders in off years and there is almost always a late 1st that is available for sale. our picks will be in the mid 20's now anyways, not exactly known for impact players.

3 - are Magic contenders - in the East, absolutely. depending on how the fill out the rest of the roster. in the NBA? we wont know for awhile. Most people were picking OKC to sweep Indy, or at most a gentlemen's sweep, and that is tied 2-2 with Indy still a good chance to win.

4 - remaining moves, salary cap - that will be interesting to watch. I bet we are on more ring chasers radar than we were 2 days ago.

As for the "epic overpay", NY sent 5 first round picks last year. Gobert was traded for 4 first round picks. I would say Bane is more offensively skilled than Bridges, Bridges better defensively. Bane has never been an all-star, but his play is very close. 4 years 18ppg+, 41% career from 3 on high volume. Ill take that and not care that he didnt win a popularity contest in the West for an all-star game.

as usual, you devolved into your Chicken little syndrome again before the roster finalized and a single game played.

[VFX]

So let me get this straight Weltman upgraded

Gary Harris
To
KCP
To
Bane

In 3 seasons and Orlando still doesn’t have a point guard on the roster.

He still doesn’t get that the offense is bad because of ball movement.

This has been the most fascinating and interesting debate of the whole summer to me.

The push and pull between we need playmaking more than shooting. Or shooting more than playmaking.

It feels like our board came out 60% for playmaking over shooting, as opposed to 40% the other way around.

I went with the 40% opinion because Franz and Paolo are the monsters that opposing teams can’t solve. And they are still too young for me.
You can’t pluck a Haliburton out of nowhere either. If CoJo was getting us into offensive sets quite well like he did then we also don’t need to go as crazy on a playmaking upgrade as we thought. In some ways, I think a pure PG and a pure Center with switchable defensive skill are now much easier to scout for the Magic than any other positions. We know all the other starting spots and the top 7-ish rotation. Any PG’s and Bigs we look at get that extra level of accurate scouting — how do they fit precisely next to the 3-man and 4-man combos of Bane, Suggs, Franz, Paolo.

It’s only truly fascinating if nobody has been watching the team for the last three seasons.

The argument to me isn’t shooting vs playmaking. It’s rational basketball vs attempting to make something it isn’t. Because the former plan assumes playmaking guards cannot also shoot a basketball in space. Which we know is nonsense. Those players aren’t unicorns. These two finals teams have 6 between the two of them.

There is a massive grey area between Cojo and Haliburton. Like monumental amounts of grey area.

I don’t necessarily disagree with your assessment of what Orlando needs right now.

People have to understand that at some point in a team’s roster construction you are acquiring skillsets to mitigate what your main guys lack. If everyone here with Blue shaded glasses believes Paolo and Franz will become exponentially better shooters from outside, then that’s great. Terrific.

My main concern with this team wasn’t secondary playmaking and improving the starting lineup by one shooter total. It was primary playmaking, making the stars better on offense, AND being able to stretch the floor. Does Bane do those three things? He does one of those things at an elite level, at the expense of the other two, positionally based on the assets required to acquire him.

But yeah… bench playmaking guard that can create offense is still a need off the bench as well as a big.

[p0peye]

The amount of effort Pepe puts into his analysis is wildly out of sync with the level of appreciation it receives here, which is both impressive and slightly tragic.

[dsg2021]

First i am suprised Bane was even available. There is something very wrong going on in Memphis. Ja gun situations, very good coach fired just before playoffs... The price would be irrelevant if he was not available. There could be some silent trade request going on. I wanted Bane in the draft. I remember he was a very nice person, being raised by his grandmother, never having any legal problems. Its very strage we didnt have to trade Suggs or even Black who would fit next to Morant.

I dont think many of you realize how good of a player he is. He will propably be around 80 percentile as pnr ball handler and he just averaged 10 drives a game on 52 fg% !!! Thats much better than a random guy named Jalen Williams and better than Jaylen Brown.

I also dont agree it means Suggs is our PG now. Quite opposite. We go from Suggs/KCP to Bane/Suggs.
Bane is also very similar to player like White, Holiday, Nembhard (both in drives and pnr while being a better shooter).

Thats a roster change i thought about when asked shooting vs playmaking. You cant have roster full of 3&D players and complain that we dont move the ball. Bane changes whole dynamic of our starting 5.

I also dont agree its a panic move. Bane fits like a glove here. He is also proving that our front office believes in the weakest lin theory Soul and Knightro talked about in ther pod (thanks for asking my questions, they funnily both fit with this one move :D:D!)

Now we have to think hard about upgrading center spot. I would think hard about trading for Claxton or at least draft someone like Broome or Hansen Young. I also think that we will keep Isaac. Maybe we can draft someone like Will Riley.

At last i want to say its also hard to put price on timing. Doing it so early can put as at the front of free agent priority list which can be worth more than LATE first round picks. I also predict guys like Howard or Isaac or Black or even WCJ if he stays, will look much better with Bane playmaking. You can argue Bane is not a traditional PG but looking at most successfull teams, thats how a modern PG looks like.

ps. Now we also know that in best case scenario PHX pick stays with us... lol there is really something very bad going on in Mepmphis...

Great post zaymon, I’m also starting to see Bane as 1. Maybe Suggs can take it back the following season. Won’t matter much who’s the 1 anyways based on what we are seeing in the Playoffs this year; multiple ballhandlers who can take turns as the point of attack.

[orlando_joe]

Man…the more I look, the more I’m seeing that Bane is a much more complete player than I realized. His playmaking, driving & finishing are far more advanced and efficient than I assumed. Take a look at Josh Cohen’s video on YouTube…he’s much more than just a spot up 3&D guy. Superb advanced analytics offensively.

Caleb, TdS, maybe even Jett might really emerge as the shot quality improves…lots of draft equity makes me think that Weltman really targeted Bane as a truly suitable piece and did what it took to get him. It will be interesting to see the margin follow up moves coming.

My only fear is a lack of coaching creativity diminishes Bane and Suggs into spot up spectators.

LFG!

not sure you recall but i had him and bridges as top 2 wants last summer but was laughed at ...you know me i think paid a first 2030 and 29 swap to much but i can live with it for this kind of player..and have always said it would need to be kcp going out if 30 mill coming in...now need jones at 5 mill ,moe at 7/8 and maybe move off jet and get back nets 26 or 27 pick..add some 2nds and trade for a pick next yr or 28...save money this yr try and stay under tax 1 more yr..lol

[Knightro]

The amount of effort Pepe puts into his analysis is wildly out of sync with the level of appreciation it receives here, which is both impressive and slightly tragic.

I don’t always agree with him, but I love Pepe. He does his homework.

[jezzerinho]

Pepe, I think you've gone from being a voice of reason on the delicate balance the FO just played themselves into, to doubling down on the overpay message way too much.

It's an overpay. That's barely up for debate. But not the egregious overpay you're suggesting. Siakam is probably the closest comparator in terms of level of player and recency. But Siakam was an expiring. Raptors had no leverage as Pacers had no certaintly to retain Pascal.

This deal is different. I think it's an overpay still and I really wonder if he's the best fit for what we need, but I don't think it's egregious.

What annoys me is Weltman acting one year late, having to back out of the KCP disaster he signed only a year before, missing out on the cap space he then had. I agree with Pepe that it was a bit of a panic move.

But as panic moves go, I could be a lot unhappier.

As to whether it will or won't turn us into a contender, there will be 100,000 words written here on the topic before the Game 1 tipoff of the next regular season - let alone next playoffs. And all of.those words will be worthless because we just don't know.

If - and it's a VERY big if - we can give Franz more initiation duties because his jumper is at least league average, if Suggs plays 60 RS games and the playoffs, if Paolo is team-first enough to defer a good chunk of usage possessions to the other 3 and if Bane's 3pt% holds up...... with all of those happening I think we can contend for a finals spot.

If it turns into another KCP 2.0 situation, we're royally screwed. But that seems unlikely.

This to me is in hindsight..... KCP by many pundits was a great addition. This team doesn't get injured.... KCP has the same season.... we probably would still not be having this discussion because... there is less arguing when you're winning. Glaring weaknesses were exposed as injuries occurred as well. We didn't have much to rely on when the big two and Moe were out. Everything fell apart.

.............

My only problem with everything now is.... how long i have to wait to see us in action. lol

KCP was a good pick for the deluded who thought what Orlando needed was a shooting threat to provide spacing.

Most of us on here had serious doubts, even if KCP played up.to his Denver form. He didnt even do that.

Still, as I keep.saying I like Bane a lot and no amount of chatter on here will change whether he works out or not.

[Knightro]

So to my earlier question on whether or not you would rather have Jonathan Isaac or a MLE signing…

Based on Weltman’s comments on 96.9, I guess the better question to be asking now is would you rather have Moe Wagner back or a MLE signing?

Because that at this point seems like the choice. The Magic can decline those team options and use the mid-level, but then they wouldn’t have $$$ left for Moe because they’d be hard capped.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

So to my earlier question on whether or not you would rather have Jonathan Isaac or a MLE signing…

Based on Weltman’s comments on 96.9, I guess the better question to be asking now is would you rather have Moe Wagner back or a MLE signing?

Because that at this point seems like the choice. The Magic can decline those team options and use the mid-level, but then they wouldn’t have $$$ left for Moe because they’d be hard capped.

part of me still wonders if they just punt a player with 25 to brooklyn to open up spots

[VFX]

So to my earlier question on whether or not you would rather have Jonathan Isaac or a MLE signing…

Based on Weltman’s comments on 96.9, I guess the better question to be asking now is would you rather have Moe Wagner back or a MLE signing?

Because that at this point seems like the choice. The Magic can decline those team options and use the mid-level, but then they wouldn’t have $$$ left for Moe because they’d be hard capped.

Ideally you keep Moe and restructure his deal. He’s currently the best and only reliable option on offense pre-draft.

You move Isaac, sign someone at MLE, and draft a big 4/5 to fill in and play backup. TDS also exists still on this roster and he’s not unplayable to backup Paolo for 12-15mpg.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

So to my earlier question on whether or not you would rather have Jonathan Isaac or a MLE signing…

Based on Weltman’s comments on 96.9, I guess the better question to be asking now is would you rather have Moe Wagner back or a MLE signing?

Because that at this point seems like the choice. The Magic can decline those team options and use the mid-level, but then they wouldn’t have $$$ left for Moe because they’d be hard capped.

Ideally you keep Moe and restructure his deal. He’s currently the best and only reliable option on offense pre-draft.

You move Isaac, sign someone at MLE, and draft a big 4/5 to fill in and play backup. TDS also exists still on this roster and he’s not unplayable to backup Paolo for 12-15mpg.

this is what I hope happens