Grizzlies: Desmond Bane can be “Robin” to Ja Morant’s “Batman”

The Memphis Grizzlies look like they haven’t missed a step from a season ago when the team made it to the NBA Playoffs by route of the NBA Play-in Tournament. In their path, the Grizz saw the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, both of whom they knocked off.

It was unclear whether or not the Grizzlies could return to immediate prominence. During the offseason, Memphis had traded away Jonas Valanciunas, one of their key offensive players, and replaced him with Steven Adams, a veteran center who averaged under eight points per game last year.

But again, the Grizzlies haven’t missed a step — definitely not offensively.

The emergence of Desmond Bane has kept the Grizzlies right on track offensively

When you lose production from a player offensively, the team has to find another guy, or a handful of guys, to pick up those point totals. In this case, the Grizzlies dropped 17.1 points per game from Valanciunas and only received 7.6 in return from Steven Adams. That leaves 9.5 points up in their air for this team.

Pair that with the fact that Dillon Brooks, the team’s second-leading scorer from a season ago, has been out, and you’ve got a few players who need to step up offensively. And while I could talk about the strides taken by guys like Adams, Ja Morant, and De’Anthony Melton, none of them stand out as much as another.

The player that I’m referring to is Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies’ sophomore sensation.

Bane was arguably the biggest steal in the 2020 NBA Draft, fitting right in with his new Grizzlies team and knocking down well over 40% of his deep-range shots. Bane flirted with a double-digit scoring line despite playing in a limited role for a while.

2021 has begun and Desmond Bane looks like this team’s second scoring option. Granted, Bane’s production could come to a crashing halt when Dillon Brooks returns, as the Grizzlies are essentially playing two shooting guards as things stand. Those shooting guards are Bane and Melton.