Desmond Bane on track to break into elite Grizzlies territory
The Grizzlies shooting guard has gone from a middle-of-the-draft selection to household name in a season and a half. He's also about to cement himself as one of the best shooters in franchise history.
The national media is finally taking note (pun on the Utah Jazz??) of the impressive run that Desmond Bane has been on this season. This may sound wild, but Desmond is about to move into the top ten in franchise history in three point makes, surpassing the short-time Grizzly Vince Carter.
After nailing three threes against the Cavs on Tuesday night, Bane is now just 11 makes away from moving onto this list and tying for 10th. For his career, Bane is averaging 2.1 threes per game - which he has exceeded this year with a blistering 2.9 threes per outing. Based on his career pace, he likely will tie or overtake Vince at some point next week, probably against the Mavericks on the 14th at the latest. Using a conservative projection, he will have needed 113 games to break into this list. For reference, it took his teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. 138 games to reach the 240 mark.
Ja Morant is campaigning for Bane to be considered for Most Improved Player this season and Desmond is impacting every game for Memphis in big ways. He is becoming a household name on this Grizzlies team and has risen to a certain level of relevance in that he has other teams’ announcers doing their homework and getting their pop culture references ready in the queue.
While Bane has objectively been great as a player this season, he and Ja seem to be complimenting each other in a way that hasn’t happened between a pair of Grizzlies in a long time. Of Morant’s 180 assists this year, more have been added courtesy of Bane (45) than any other Grizzly. Ja’s next closest assist beneficiary is JJJ, who has converted 29 of Morant’s passes for buckets. The fact that Bane is only 23 years old and Ja is only 22 should strike fear in the heart of the league.
This backcourt pairing is special. This backcourt pairing is special. Kevin O'Connor from the Ringer recently gave the backcourt duo their flowers. Over the last five games, Morant and Bane have combined for 56.8 points per game, which is the highest of any guard duo in the league over that span. Small sample size, sure, but the larger data set is still impressive and points to sustained success.
Ja has played 663 minutes with Bane this season, which is the most time he has shared the court with anyone. Recently Desmond said that he and Morant did not fully have chemistry last year, but that the time that the two have put in together is benefitting both of them as they now feel comfortable playing off of each other’s energy.
Bane averages 28.54 points per 100 possessions when sharing the court with Ja, and the duo sports a net rating of plus -4.4, which is the second highest net rating on the team of any heavy-minutes duo that involves Morant - behind only the pairing of Ja and Jaren.
The Grizzlies offense is a beautiful symphony with Morant slicing into the paint at will and dishing the ball to Bane for a less-contested perimeter attempt. When Bane is heavily featured in the offense, that usually bodes well for Memphis, who is 12-3 when the former TCU guard scores 20 or more points.
The last pick in the 2020 draft is making teams across the league cringe at the sound of his name and the missed opportunity that it represents for them. For Memphis fans, we only need to sit back and smile as we watch one of the best shooters this franchise has ever had.