If there is one thing everyone is complaining about when it comes to the Orlando Magic's acquisition of Desmond Bane, it is the sticker shock.
Four first-round picks and a lightly protected pick swap sounds like a lot for a player who has never been an NBA All-Star. Giving away two rotation players in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony only adds to the shock in price for the Magic's big move this offseason.
While the Magic feel like they got the player who checked all of their boxes and gave them one of the best quartets of players in the league, they also did not drastically change much about their team.
They did not give up any of their core players. They did not acquire a ball-dominant guard to take the ball out of the hands of their best players. They largely kept their team intact as they envisioned it.
Bane provides a lot of skills the Magic need with his shooting (especially) and playmaking. But the biggest thing he does is to keep the team on this path of versatile playmakers centered around Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. He fits into the Magic rather than drastically change them.
In giving up so many future assets for a player that Magic brass all seemed to agree was their perfect fit, the Magic did more than acquire a high-level starter: They bet on themselves and the group they are building with.
"We feel we are betting on ourselves," president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said during a press conference Monday. "We feel like we are going to be a good team. The other unique thing about a guy like Des being available in a trade is the fact that he is about to turn 27. If we are a good team, then we hope to be a good team for a while because our age profile of our most highly paid core four players are ages 23-27. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement with Paolo this summer and have this group together for a long time wearing Magic uniforms."
The Magic are just getting started
The Orlando Magic gave up four first-round picks, mortgaging a big chunk of their future to net a major short-term injection of offense.
The No. 16 pick in this year's draft and the 2026 pick, which is involved in a complicated pick swap with the Phoenix Suns, are the two most valuable picks.
But beyond that? Orlando is betting that they will not be drafting in the Lottery any time soon.
Part of what makes this move unique compared to other of the massive draft hauls of past offseasons is that the Magic are still so incredibly young. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs are just beginning their second contracts at 23 years old. Paolo Banchero is 22. Bane will turn 27 on June 25.
The Magic are boxing themselves in a bit financially. But with how these players are expected to grow -- and now grow together -- the Magic do not seem like they will be going away any time soon.
This was always the destination when the Magic felt they were ready to compete. With two potential All-NBA players anchoring the team, Orlando took that plunge.
"When I was first in front of you guys as we plotted out this rebuild, I think the stated goal was to build a sustainable winner," Jeff Weltman said. "We're hopeful this is a winning team and we can keep winning for a while because these guys are young. There is not only the hope we can sustain it but when you think abotu what Franz [Wagner], what Paolo, what Jalen, what Anthoy Black, what Tristan and all of our young guys, what they're going to look like in three or four years. It's kind of exciting to think about that. They should get better every year, including our two main guys.
They just have to prove to the league they are ready to win. If there has been a lingering criticism about this move and this deal it is whether pundits or critics believe in Banchero and Wagner as primary options.
Orlando put all its chips on Wagner when the team signed him to a max contract. Handing Banchero an equally lucrative max extension this summer (in all likelihood, despite Weltman's token hesitance) further deepens that bet.
This project would always rise and fall on Banchero and Wagner's abilities. And now that the team has tasted the playoffs and seen just how good they can be, the Magic clearly want more.
Orlando expects to contend for a while
Holding onto draft picks will not mean very much. Especially if the Orlando Magic are as good as they think they will be. If Orlando wins, nobody will think what it cost to get the player and the core that put them over the top.
The Magic were ready to face this music and ready to believe in themselves and their process. Adding someone like Bane who matches their age and is under contract for four years was the kind of bet that a team feeling the pressure to win makes.
"This is what the NBA is about," Weltman said Monday. "It's betting on yourself, it's putting pressure on yourself, it's elevating your standard. One of the unique things about this trade when you think about the caliber of player that Desmond Bane is at the age that he is at and the contract control that you have is we gave up none of our core pieces. This, by definition, was going to be a draft capital trade."
The Magic then gave up what the cost of doing business was. To get a player at Desmond Bane's level, a player the Magic believed was the perfect player to fit their culture and the missing piece to their lineup.
Orlando was seemingly done waiting for fortune to smile on the team. It saw its clear weakness and addressed it in an aggressive way.
More than that, the Magic bet on its own success. It made that happen. Orlando pushed its chips in believing in the culture and team it has built.