NBA trade season has officially begun with a blockbuster deal between the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic. The deal sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP), Cole Anthony, a staggering four first-round picks, and a pick swap from the Magic to the Grizzlies.
BREAKING: The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/UcQnmHbgZb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2025
In exchange, the Magic got back Desmond Bane. There's no debating that the Magic needed shooting, with them ranking just 21st in 3-point shooting this season. Still, that is an alarmingly high asking price, especially for a team like the Magic that still has plenty of time to build around stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
Then pushing in their chips now seems premature, considering that if it goes bad, then they could be handcuffed and unable to make moves going forward. I.e., like acquiring a starting point guard, which they still need and possibly won't be able to trade for.
Who won the Grizzlies and Magic Desmond Bane trade?
From the Grizzlies' perspective, they shed a significant amount of salary by trading Bane. He is owed a staggering $163 million over the next four seasons, or $40.7 million per season. Instead, they broke up his contract into KCP, and Cole. KCP, who has just one year remaining on his contract, which will pay him $21.6 million next season, and Cole will make $13.1 million over each of the next two seasons.
Both will be rotation players for the Grizzlies in 2025-26. And, if KCP pans out, then they could re-sign him to a much smaller deal next summer or let him walk if he doesn't. They could trade him again.
Meanwhile, Anthony is a talented shooter in his own right and could potentially help replace what they lost in Bane while giving them more depth behind star Ja Morant. That's important because the Grizzlies aren't a great shooting team and just traded their best shooter.
In addition to saving significant salary, they are suddenly flush with picks and can even look to trade KCP and any of those picks later this summer or during the season.
All told, the Grizzlies made a smart move by trading Bane for a massive return and breaking up his contract into more manageable pieces. Meanwhile, the Magic did solve one of their major issues by landing a sharpshooter, but they clearly overpaid. As it was, the Grizzlies were the clear winners of the trade.