Desmond Bane is one of the best draft picks that the Memphis Grizzlies have used in a long time. Yes, that includes Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.
What Bane brings to the court for late first-rounder is incredible. Expectations were low and the Grizzlies didn’t really need another shooting guard. They had Dillon Brooks and De’Anthony Melton, so we assumed that Bane wouldn’t see a ton of playing time out of the gate.
We were wrong.
Desmond Bane has been a huge contributing factor to the reason why this team has been able to build off of their results last year despite missing one of their top players in Jaren Jackson Jr.
Memphis Grizzlies SG Desmond Bane’s shooting should not go unrecognized
It starts with 3-point shooting. While the Grizz have struggled shooting from long range without their young star in JJJ, Bane has come in to keep this team afloat in that category.
His 3-point shooting has been better than anybody else on this team. He technically sits at third on the team behind Killian Tillie and Gorgui Dieng, but he has shot a very high volume of long balls. And on a team that hasn’t been shooting well, he has given a glimpse of what they can be capable of if they get on track from down town.
If he’s shooting 45% or higher as a rookie, who knows what he could get this number up to by the time he’s a weathered veteran in this league. He may not have been a big name coming out of college, but he’s making a name for himself quickly in the league.