The Orlando Magic has made its first blockbuster of the NBA offseason and is now poised to compete in the Eastern Conference, but that may not be enough.
On Sunday, the Orlando Magic agreed to trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and landed Desmond Bain in exchange for Cole Anthony, Kentavia Scaldwell Pope, four first round picks and a future pix swap.
While that sounds like a massive overpayment, Bane adds a much-needed offense to the younger Magic team, one of the worst shooting teams in the league in recent years.
The move has plenty of time for the other candidates to catch up, but appears poised to make Orlando appear as one of the better teams in the weak East.
Heading into the next season, the Boston Celtics are expected to both be back down, with Damian Lillard injured and Jason Tatum hurt.
Depending on who the New York Knicks hire as head coach, they can go backwards too.
The Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers remain among the teams who finished first in the rankings.
The Pacers are still competing in the finals and are largely expected to run things on the same roster next season. Meanwhile, the pistons and cabs are likely to do some movements.
For now, Orlando is the top five teams in the East, and will benefit from having a whole offseason with Bane in town, allowing him to fit seamlessly into the offense at the start of next season.
But the assumption that magic can compete depends on a very unlikely reality. In other words, they are the only team that does important trade.
There have been cases where all the top 10 players in the league are in the Western Conference, with the exception of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can trade very well this summer.
Nicola Jokic, Luca Donsic, Shai Gilgaus Alexander, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Victor Wenbagnama, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kawi Leonard are all elite players in the west, with wide open in the east.
With minimal effort, teams like the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks could emerge as playoff threats, with the Knicks, pistons and cabs likely to bolster their roster this summer.
With East being more open than ever, magic isn’t the only team to make flashy moves.
With the current situation, Orlando is poised to go for deep playoff runs, but hopefully this offseason will be chaotic and next year must match up with some new, improved rosters.
The magic gave up on Bane’s assets so that he would doubt be sufficient, but it may not be.