The Grizzlies next move after Desmond Bane trade is painfully obvious

The NBA's first blockbuster deal of the unofficial 2025 offseason involved the Memphis Grizzlies trading away one of their core players, Desmond Bane, to the Orlando Magic. While the compensation received reflected a team that was gaining assets for future flexibility, the Grizzlies are actively shopping for bigger star power.

Devin Booker has been widely known to be a part of the Phoenix Suns' plans to transition forward with all of the Kevin Durant trade talk, but appears to be buying into a potential trade to Memphis. After trading their best shooting guard in the team's franchise history, the Grizzlies also appear to be looking for an upgrade.

The Grizzlies are interested in acquiring Devin Booker

One of the four first-round picks the Grizzlies received in the Desmond Bane trade was a swap right in the 2026 draft with either the Phoenix Suns or Washington Wizards. One of the biggest takeaways from the Kevin Durant trade rumors is that the Suns wanted to do business with the Houston Rockets because they have their first-round picks that they originally traded to the Brooklyn Nets to obtain Durant.

Now the Grizzlies have a pick of theirs that could prove to be promising, as the Suns expect to be worse after trading Durant, and they didn't make the playoffs this past season with him. Also, Josh Eberley of Sporting News and HOOP Magazine made a cryptic tweet perceived to be about the Grizzlies' interest in Devin Booker.

The Suns have made it clear since their season ended that Devin Booker is a part of their future plans, even supposedly including him in their search for their new head coach, for which Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott was hired for their vacancy. However, Booker appeared to play into the rumors by apparently posting and deleting an Instagram story of the same bear emoji Eberley used in his cryptic tweet.

NBA players love to troll, but this seems a little too convenient to post the same day Bane was traded to the Magic. Booker hasn't requested out of Phoenix, which is primarily the reason the Suns haven't made him available, similar to Giannis in Milwaukee. Information can change on any given Sunday, but the Grizzlies might find themselves in an interesting position to pull off another blockbuster move after gaining a plethora of assets from the Magic.

The Grizzlies trading Bane wasn't a move to trigger a rebuild, as some are wondering about. The trade appears to be a move to set themselves up for the next move that will ultimately place them among the NBA's upper echelon of championship contenders.