The Orlando Magic traded for Desmond Bane for his shooting and scoring.
There is no avoiding that. The team was desperate to add another attacker and make their offense more dynamic around their two young stars. Working on the margins near the bottom of the offensive rating standings was not going to cut it. They needed a bold move.
Desmond Bane came with a heavy price in four first-round picks and two rotation players, including one of the team's heartbeats in Cole Anthony. But the promise of Bane's shooting, playmaking and leadership was too much to pass up.
He would be able to add much more to the Magic's offense than just reliable shooting, as important as that might be.
There was something else that attracted the Magic to him. Something beyond his basketball skills that they sought.
Bane displayed all the toughness and bravado that was part of the Magic's culture. He never backed down from anybody and played with a physicality that fit this Magic team.
More than that, he was serious. He had been deeper into the Playoffs. He could back up his talk of what it took to win with being able to deliver on the court.
After a second straight 37-point outburst, including 18 points in the fourth quarter, Bane once again delivered dividends for the team in a 125-120 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Bane delivered big play after big play throughout the fourth quarter, helping provide the spark that would lift the Magic to a win.
That is what good teams do.
"I think that's the difference between the really good teams and the average teams," Bane said after Monday's win. "It would have been easy for us to hang our head and lay down, especially against a team like that plays so fast, shares the ball and constantly tries to touch the paint. They made us work for this win tonight. it took a lot of effort on both sides of the ball."
It took a full team effort. Bane was not alone to close this game out.
Anthony Black scored nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, sparking the team's defense in the third quarter before he helped finish the game. It came with Goga Bitadze blocking four shots among the Magic's 11 blocks on the game (and 12 steals in a 21-turnover game for 25 Magic points off turnovers).
The Magic made four of nine 3-pointers in the fourth quarter after struggling for much of the game -- going 9 for 33 overall with Jalen Suggs making only 2 of his 10 attempts.
This was a Magic team digging deep after going down by 15 points in the third quarter and finding a way back into the game and then executing down the stretch to ensure they picked up the win.
Orlando has quickly found its identity and has become a team that learning how to win with whatever the game or their night gives them.
Bane has been at the center of it all.
Bane finds his fit
That is not an easy thing to do.
Even a player like Desmond Bane needed some time to get acclimated to his new team and what they were expecting him to do. There was a fair amount of hand-wringing going on about Bane's early-season run.
He was trying very hard to fit in while still preaching patience. Bane needed some time to get comfortable and find his fit.
Everyone knew he would inevitably find it.
Bane has certainly done that, as two 37-point efforts with clutch shots to boot have shown. He has averaged 24.1 points per game and shot 47.1 percent from the floor. He has added 5.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. His 3-point shooting has come around to 34.6 percent on 5.8 attempts per game.
And this is with defenses focused on taking away his shooting with more attention on him.
"He's a winner. He's going to find a way to win no matter what," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Monday's win. "He's going to find a way to help this team win games. That's who he has always been. He's been a leader. He's been a vocal leader. His toughness, his ability to make plays down the stretch. That's who we've asked him to be, and it is who he is."
Still, the Magic did not quite expect Bane to carry them through this chunk of the season. They needed to find a way to put him on the ball more, but Bane has been more valuable as a playmaker and pulling defenders to him than as a 3-point shooter.
He has looked to attack off the dribble far more than anyone expected.
With Paolo Banchero out of the lineup, the Magic had to ask Desmond Bane to be a leader with his new teammates. For the last two games, especially, stuck in grind-it-out games where the Magic could never quite get their footing and needed last-minute baskets, Bane delivered.
Bane had to learn this too through trial and error. He had to make his mistakes. And he is bringing that experience to his new teammates.
Now that Bane has found his fit, he seems like he was always a part of this group. He has been credited throughout with being a leader as the Magic try to push their way up the standings.
This team has had to make its share of mistakes. But a game like this shows how much the team is maturing.
On a night when the Magic did not have their best and struggled to find secure footing, the team fought back to score a huge win.
The biggest thing Bane brings to the table is his will to win. He is unrelenting in that pursuit. That has spread throughout the team.
That is something the Magic needed. It was that intangible aspect the team was looking for all along.
Bane has always been all about winning. And now the Magic are quickly finding out what that means.