When the Orlando Magic traded for Desmond Bane, the instant response centered around the cost of doing business. Orlando sent four unprotected first-round draft picks and a top-two protected 2029 pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for a player who has, thus far, never been an All-Star.
Buried beneath the outrage over the new norm of trading a handful of picks and swaps to land high-level players was the simple fact that Bane addresses three critical flaws in Orlando.
The Magic finished the 2024-25 season at 41-41, claiming a game from the reigning-champion Boston Celtics during the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Considering Paolo Banchero missed 36 games, Franz Wagner was absent from 22, and Jalen Suggs played just 35, it was an impressive year for Orlando.
In addition to securing a second consecutive playoff berth, the Magic ranked No. 2 in the NBA in defensive rating—trailing only the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
For as optimistic of a picture as that may paint, Orlando was in dire straits on the other end of the floor. It lacked the rotational balance to sustain its peaks, overburdened its stars in multiple phases of the game, and inevitably ranked No. 27 in offensive rating.
By acquiring Bane, the Magic have addressed those issues by finding a player who thrives in the three specific areas they struggled most last season.
Orlando was the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA
For as great as the Magic were on defense, they were somehow just as bad from a three-point shooting perspective—if not worse. In 2024-25, Orlando ranked No. 30 in three-point field goals made, three-point field goal percentage, and catch-and-shoot three-point field goal percentage.
Bane, meanwhile, is one of the best shooters in the game today—with the skill set to thrive both on and off the ball.
Through five seasons, Bane is a career 41.0 percent shooter from beyond the arc. The sample size is more than sufficient, as he's averaged 6.3 three-point field goal attempts per game and put up 1,978 shots from beyond the arc overall.
Even when Bane's volume increased to 8.6 attempts per game in 2023-24, he shot 38.1 percent—a career-worst and still excellent mark.
The primary reason for optimism with this fit is that Bane thrives in both catch-and-shoot and pull-up situations. He buried 42.3 percent of his attempts in the former regard in 2024-25, as well as a more than commendable 37.8 percent in the latter.
From struggling to find any semblance of reliable shooting to adding one of the best marksmen in the NBA, Orlando has perfectly complemented Banchero and Wagner.
Orlando desperately needed a playmaking guard
Outside of three-point shooting, none of Orlando's issues have been more commonly discussed than their lack of a reliable playmaking guard. Banchero led the Magic at 4.8 assists per game, and Wagner checked in at 4.7, but no backcourt player averaged more than Anthony Black's 3.1.
Suggs technically averaged more at 3.7 assists per game, but considering he missed 46 games, he hardly qualifies—and even if he had, his figure would be insufficient for a backcourt-leading mark.
Bane, meanwhile, has accumulated an average of 5.0 assists per game over the past three seasons. That includes the 5.5 that he posted in 2023-24 and the 5.3 that he amassed in 2024-25, during which time he played alongside All-NBA point guard Ja Morant.
In Orlando, Bane projects to have even more opportunities to create for his teammates—and both his production and winning value imply he'll rise to the occasion.
The Magic should still invest in a starting-caliber point guard, but acquiring Bane is a step in the right direction. If Anthony Black develops as expected and Suggs continues to improve his production as a playmaker, Orlando could have a long-term solution in place.
Bane may not be the point guard of the future, but he's the playmaker the team was desperately searching for during the 2024-25 season.
Magic needed a guard who can reliably create their own shot
If the 2025 NBA Playoffs proved anything, it's that the Magic had nowhere to turn for shot creation when Banchero and Wagner weren't taking on the burden. It was the culmination of a season-long reality check they'd hoped to rectify, but never managed to address.
Fresh off of a regular season in which their guards ranked No. 28 in field goal percentage and No. 29 in points per game and three-point field goal percentage, Orlando desperately needed Bane.
Bane has compiled an average of 20.2 points per game over the past four seasons, as well as 21.1 between the last three. He produced with elite efficiency during that four-year span, posting a slash line of .472/.407/.887.
That type of production has been thoroughly elusive in Orlando. More importantly, the manner in which Bane scores reveals his ability as the three-level scorer they lack.
Bane attempted 10.5 drives per game in 2024-25, shooting 52.5 percent from the field in such situations. He also converted 61.5 percent of his long twos, and shot better than, the same as, or within just 0.6 percent of the league average in all but one area of the floor within the three-point line.
Productive, well-rounded, and efficient, Bane is the scoring guard the Magic have desperately needed to take pressure off of Banchero and Wagner.