It's almost like Desmond Bane was made in a lab to be the perfect fit for this Orlando Magic team. Yeah, they gave up a lot of picks to get him, but like I've said before... Picks. Aren't. Real. Get the good player!
The Magic did get the good player, and every new statistic about Bane and the Magic makes the fit seem even better than it originally seemed. The Magic were No. 28 in the NBA in pull-up 3-pointers made last, connecting on just 220 of them. Desmond Bane made 87 by himself, according to Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports. I'm no math whiz, but adding a guy who did 40 percent of something your entire team did the year before seems like a good addition.
Pull-up shooting is a pretty big stat, too; it shows a player is able to create shots for themself, which is one of the biggest traits a player can possess in the modern NBA. Of course, if that's the only skill a player possesses, it loses it's shine a tad, but that's not the case with Bane, who's turned into a well-rounded player and could be in the mix with his two star teammates for an All-Star nod in the East.
Speaking of versatility, Bane's shooting is obviously his most well-known skill, but we shouldn't gloss over that he would have been the leading assist man on the Magic last season, too! Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 4.8 assists, and Bane averaged 5.3 in Memphis. The days of "Shelvin Mack with the dimes" are long gone, friends. Desmond Bane brings a type of offensive versatility the Magic haven't had at the guard position since... Evan Fournier?
📩 @ShelvinMack with the dimes pic.twitter.com/yiv1nOL5aQ
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) April 23, 2018
Bane will answer the prayers of Magic fans
I mentioned recently how the Magic playing faster could benefit the trio of Bane, Banchero and Wagner. That prowess in transition, plus the ability to pull up from deep, work in tandem to unlock so many new avenues for scoring that Magic fans haven't gotten to enjoy in past years. Like, past many years. This team hasn't finished in the top 20 of offensive rating since 2011-12, and you have to go back two more years to find the last time they were in the top 10.
I am supremely confident that the first of those numbers will change this season. A top 20 offensive rating is surely attainable — top 10 would be a nearly unprecedented leap, so I won't get greedy, but even a league-average offense would feel like the 2017 Warriors for this offense-starved fanbase.
No matter where the shots come from or what play type leads to him letting it fly, Bane is going to expand the possibilities of this offense so drastically. Magic fans thought offensive reinforcements were coming when the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (a signing everybody loved at the time) two years ago, but KCP never got his feet under him in Orlando. Acquiring Desmond Bane leaves no doubt about how much this team wants to compete, and there doesn't seem to be many reasons to fear Bane's fit with the crew.