Why Desmond Bane's evolution into a Memphis Grizzlies star is so important | Giannotto
The barrage started with one of those 3-pointers only the best shooters make look easy, the type of 3-pointer that helped introduce Desmond Bane to Memphis Grizzlies fans when he first arrived two years ago.
He curled around a Steven Adams screen, caught a pass from John Konchar, turned over his right shoulder to square his body to the basket, set his feet on the left wing, and drilled a shot from three feet beyond the arc.
Bane, as it turned out, was only beginning, and the implications of that go well beyond a Wednesday night in Portland during the opening weeks of the season.
There has been no more important development for these Grizzlies through eight games than Bane’s latest evolution. It’s how they beat Portland, and how they closed out their first West Coast road trip with a 2-2 record. It's how they’ve survived their early spate of injuries and ailments, maybe even more than those extraordinary Ja Morant performances.
We knew to expect that from Morant. We didn't know yet how much better his sidekick would be.
Bane appears to be morphing into a bona fide playmaker, a star in his own right alongside Morant, forming as potent an offensive backcourt tandem as there is in the league at the moment. The significance of this can be seen through the prism of recent NBA champions.
Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen in Chicago. Shaquille O’Neal needed Kobe Bryant and Bryant needed Pau Gasol in Los Angeles. Tim Duncan needed Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio. LeBron James needed Dwyane Wade in Miami and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland. Giannis Antetokounmpo needed Khris Middleton in Milwaukee. Steph Curry needed Klay Thompson in Golden State.
Those last two examples, in particular, seem especially promising because Bane compares favorably to Middleton and Thompson, two secondary all-stars with a similar profile and level of production. It’s early, but Bane is on pace to average career highs in scoring (24.9 points), assists (5), rebounds (4.4) and 3-point percentage (46.9%).
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This jump in production is perhaps why Memphis approached the offseason the way it did, adding more rookies than expected, moving on from Kyle Anderson and De’Anthony Melton, and bypassing any major moves that would tie up long-term salary cap space.
Thompson and Middleton both ultimately signed max contracts with their teams. In the past few months, New York signed R.J. Barrett to an extension that could be worth $120 million after incentives, Miami signed Tyler Herro to a $130 million deal, and Golden State secured Jordan Poole with a rookie extension worth as much as $140 million.
Bane is currently more productive than all of them.
He continues to be a weapon off the ball when playing with Morant, but he’s becoming almost as lethal with the ball. Whether he’s playing with Morant or he’s playing as the primary option with the Grizzlies’ bench unit. It’s rare these days, particularly with Jaren Jackson Jr. out , that coach Taylor Jenkins doesn’t have either Morant or Bane on the court.
If the rest of his season is even close to his start, and he stays healthy, Bane might join Morant as the second Grizzlies player in as many years to sign a maximum rookie extension. At the very least, he’s going to be the second-highest paid player on the team and take up a sizable portion of its cap space.
“Des is so important to what we do,” Jenkins said in the aftermath of Bane’s 20-point fourth-quarter explosion that rescued Memphis in its 111-105 win at Portland.
It was Wednesday, over about 14 minutes, in which Bane’s blossoming game once more emerged for all to see.
First came the aforementioned 3-pointer off a set play. Then he drove toward the lane and kicked out a pass to David Roddy for another 3-pointer late in the third quarter. He started the fourth quarter with consecutive 3-pointers, followed by an especially impressive hesitation move that led to a beautiful feed along the baseline for another John Konchar 3-pointer in the corner. A minute later, Bane hit another 3-pointer and the Grizzlies had a 17-point lead.
When Portland came all the way back to tie the score at 100 with less than three minutes to go, Bane calmly rattled in an 8-foot floater from an odd angle and hit nine free throws down the stretch.
He had the Grizzlies’ final 11 points, offsetting a fourth quarter in which Morant went 0-for-6 from the field. He now leads the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring average this season.
It is remarkable, and yet Bane is making it look remarkably routine, as if his scoring binges are as certain as Morant’s bursts of brilliance at this point.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Desmond Bane's evolution as Memphis Grizzlies star alongside Ja Morant
