As is always the case during NBA free agency, fans and analysts alike reacted as deals—and the high-dollar number of them in some cases—were reported in close to real-time.
Guard Fred VanVleet’s staggering three-year, $130-million contract with the Rockets seemed to generate the most discussion. But not far behind it in terms of buzz was Desmond Bane’s new max extension deal with the Grizzlies, which clocked in at five years for $207 million, making it the largest contract in team history. As such, some were befuddled: How could a player—skilled as he is—land a deal for so much without having been an All-Star before? Is it a wise move?
But the answer is yes: Even if it were to turn out to be a bit of an overpay—and with time, it may not be—this was a sensible, obvious move for the Grizzlies to max their homegrown star wing for any number of reasons.
Perhaps the most important piece of context is the organization. This is Memphis, a small-market club that isn’t necessarily the glitziest situation in the league for star-free agents to sign onto. Yes, at one point you perhaps could’ve made the case that superstar Ja Morant was an appealing talent to link up with, but that logic—tenuous even before his two league-issued suspensions involving displaying a gun on Instagram Live—doesn’t hold up right now. You simply aren’t going to find someone of Bane’s caliber on the open market.
If your issue is that Bane hasn’t been an All-Star before, well, he just turned 25 this week and only recently wrapped his third season in the NBA. It’s early yet. (Memphis made beloved guard Mike Conley Jr.—who spent his first 12 years in the league with Grizzlies—the highest-paid player in NBA history despite never having been named an All-Star. Ironically, he got a nod with Utah in his second season after leaving the club.) The West is loaded, but would it really be that stunning if Bane became one in the next season or two? If it would, it might be more a function of people being unfamiliar with his game or how wildly talented he’s shown to be thus far.
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Bane, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard built like a football player, has a skill set unlike anyone the Grizzlies franchise has ever had. Perhaps the most apt comparison would be someone like Mike Miller, a dynamite 42% shooter from deep in Memphis who joined the Grizzlies early in his career and won Sixth Man of the Year in 2006. Miller’s career-best scoring average was 18.5 the following campaign. Bane, presumably still entering his prime, just averaged 21.5 points, and has hit 42.5% of his 1,201 three-point tries since being drafted 30th back in 2020. Among active players, only Luke Kennard, Joe Harris, Seth Curry and Tony Snell have been more accurate from deep over that span. But Bane’s range and expanding floor game set him apart.
Aside from the fact that his year-to-year numbers suggest he’s on a trajectory similar to early-career Klay Thompson—something pointed out by Michael Pina in a Sports Illustrated profile back in 2022—Bane brings substantial value to a Grizzlies team that needs as much spacing as it can get around Morant. He knocked down 228 threes back during the 2021-22 season and followed that up with 166 this past season despite appearing in just 58 games due to a right big toe injury that recently required offseason surgery. The swingman often tires out defenses by running off screens—especially ones set by Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke, a pair of bigs whose late-season injuries hurt Memphis—and few players have been more efficient off those looks. Also of note: While Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose have joined the roster and will certainly help with playmaking in Morant’s absence (and after the trade involving Tyus Jones), Bane has improved considerably when handling the ball. While he’s always had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, his assist numbers have climbed every season, and not merely because he’s played more minutes. On a per-100-possession basis, his assists have jumped from 3.7 as a rookie to 4.4 as a second-year player to now 6.6 dimes per 100 possessions in his third year.
His scoring has also matured. As a rookie, 93.2% of Bane’s triples—and almost 71% of his twos—were assisted. Last season, just 73% of his threes and 52% of his twos stemmed from an assist, meaning he’s become more self-sufficient in that regard—something that bodes well for his production without Morant while the Memphis star serves his 25-game suspension.
This isn’t to say that going from paying Bane $3.8 million this coming season to $35.5 million in the 2024-25 coming year won’t be steep for the Grizzlies. It obviously will be. Bane will eat just under 24% of the club’s projected cap space when the pay raise kicks in that season. But that’s the cost of doing business in today’s NBA, and for a contending, small-market team that already boasts Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Bane’s production and trajectory so far is certainly worth the bet.
