Fantasy Basketball Implications: After the Desmond Bane Trade
Yesterday, there was a surprising trade as Desmond Bane was sent to Orlando in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 4 first round picks, and a pick swap. The Grizzlies’ starting players are all winners here, as they’ll all see more volume. The Magic starters’ fantasy value will suffer as Bane will absorb a decent amount of the offensive volume.
For the Magic, Desmond Bane will lose a decent amount of usage as Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are both accustomed to having the ball in their hands a lot (both over 30% usage rate last season). Desmond should still be a viable fantasy option due to his overall efficiency. He’ll also fill a void for Orlando as he’ll help a Magic team that was in desperate need of shooting. The Magic were last in the league in three pointers made and three point percentage last year, so Bane will be a huge help in that area as he’s shot over 38% from deep in each of his first five seasons. Banchero and Wagner lose value as they'll have to split touches and shots with Bane, who’ll likely command a sizable usage rate (23.3% usage rate for the 2024-25 season). Jalen Suggs' offensive appeal drops a lot as he'll have to sacrifice some volume with Bane around. Overall though, his efficiency should hopefully improve as the spacing will be much better, which doesn't hurt. Wendell Carter Jr. hasn’t been accustomed to a lot of volume since joining Orlando, so look for his role to be similar to last season. Anthony Black was a fringe starter last season, but will be brought off the bench this season due to Bane's arrival, lowering Black’s upside.
For the Grizzlies, Ja Morant (31.2% usage rate for the 2024-25 season) and Scotty Pippen Jr. (18.8% usage rate for the 2024-25 season) are the big winners here as they'll absorb a lot of the vacated offensive volume from Bane. Pippen Jr. will also be a full time starter this season which increases his upside moving forward. Ja is a strong bounce back option while Scotty is a potential breakout option, barring any significant offseason roster changes in the few weeks. Jaren Jackson Jr. (27.4% usage rate for the 2024-25 season) is another beneficiary as he'll be the surefire second option for this offense after seeing inconsistent offensive usage at times over the past few seasons. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope should see a little more volume on offense, but overall, he'll still operate as a 3 and D wing again for Memphis, which limits his fantasy appeal. Santi Aldama will likely be a restricted free agent (has been offered the qualifying offer from Memphis), but assuming he is back, he'll see a boost in volume which doesn't hurt. Zach Edey will sustain a similar role, but having a little more usage helps his fantasy value as he didn’t have a sizable offensive role for the Grizzlies last season. In 12 games that Desmond Bane missed this season, Pippen Jr. benefited a lot as he averaged 13.8 PPG and 5.4 APG compared to 9.1 PPG and 4.2 APG in games with Bane. Jackson Jr. took full advantage of all 13 games without Bane as he went for 27 PPG compared to 21.2 PPG in games with Desmond. Morant only played 6 games without Bane this season but still saw an improvement as he put up 23.3 PPG and 9.2 APG in Desmond’s absence and 23 PPG and 7 APG in games with Bane. While it’s a small sample size, these three Grizzlies starters are bound to see larger workloads entering next season.
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Nicholas Misurelli - Fantasy Basketball Insider
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Robbin Marx
NBA Fantasy Analyst
Experience: NBC Sports - Rotoworld, HashTag Basketball, Bleav Network
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