As the NBA season winds down, teams not in the Finals are looking ahead to next season and beginning to shape their rosters. With the NBA Draft occurring almost immediately after the conclusion of the Finals, teams can’t really wait for the 2025 season to be officially done before they make their moves.
One of the biggest moves thus far involves a former Tar Heel.
On Sunday, Shams Charania [broke news](https://africa.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45517668/sources-grizzlies-trade-desmond-bane-magic-blockbuster-deal) of a massive deal between the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzles are sending over Desmond Bane to the Magic, and in return, the Magic are sending Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and _four_ unprotected first round picks as well as a pick swap.
The Magic made the move after being dispatched in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and appear to think that Bane is a huge missing piece in an Eastern Conference that is up for grabs with the Boston Celtics missing Jayson Tatum for at lest the regular season. With the Indiana Pacers making the Finals this season and giving the Oklahoma City Thunder a fight, it’s seemingly spurred the Magic to think they have a shot at going far.
For the Grizzlies, they appear to be thinking of the present and the future. Neither player they received contributed many points for the Magic in their series against Boston, but there’s little doubt that both Caldwell-Pope and Anthony will be able to see significant minutes in Memphis as they look to fill the place of Bane. However, with only two more years of Ja Morant signed plus his significant off-court issues, the Grizzlies clearly see an opportunity to make a move that shouldn’t hurt them much in the short run but allow them to restock quickly. Remember, Oklahoma City bottomed out and collected a ton of draft picks to build the squad that is the current favorite in the Finals.
Anthony will get a chance to back up Morant, and gets a year to show his ability to Memphis as his contract [carries a club option](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/70657/cole-anthony) for ‘26-’27 before he becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent. On the Magic, he averaged under 10 points a game, shot 35% from three, 82% from the free throw line, and had 2.9 assists to 1.5 turnovers per game.
With the rules around the NBA’s salary cap changing this offseason, this is hardly going to be the last deal that turns some heads this summer. In the meantime, Cole Anthony will start getting ready to be a little closer to the spotlight of one of the NBA’s most talked-about players.