Memphis Grizzlies: Was Desmond Bane prematurely added to the starting lineup?

The Memphis Grizzlies have an extremely young roster. Among 30 NBA teams, they have the second youngest by average age. As a result, there are some young players on this roster who have been extremely strong assets to the team.

One of those players is Desmond Bane.

Bane came in with the last pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He was drafted by the Celtics and traded to the Grizzlies, giving Memphis a player who has turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

This is highlighted by his strong shooting and defensive prowess, two things that the Grizzlies are in desperate need of at the moment.

And to a certain point, he has been as good as anybody could have asked this season. Many fans were calling for him to be put into the starting lineup because of how well he was playing, but it looks like this experiment may have backfired, at least for now.

Desmond Bane is talented, but may have joined the Memphis Grizzlies starting 5 too soon.

Bane gave Grizzlies fans every reason to believe that he should be in the starting lineup. He was shooting near-50% from the 3-point line. To add to that, he was playing extremely strong defense as well. He looked like a seasoned player out on the court.

Bane was and still is unanimously a top ten rookie despite barely being drafted in the first round.

He was seemingly handed the permanent starting spot in a game against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are a team that Memphis would end up demolishing, setting new records in margin of victory and bench scoring.

He played well, giving hope to coaches and fans that he’d be able to complete a Jaren Jackson Jr.-less lineup. He finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals, wasting no time acquainting himself with his new position.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.