Desmond Bane is signed through 2029, so he’s got plenty of time to figure things out. Through the first eight games of his Orlando Magic tenure, he’s been as busty a bust as there’s ever been.
We’re talking Dolly Parton-level bust. Bane is making Anthony Bennett, Hasheem Thabeet and Darko Milicic proud.
Hopefully for Orlando’s sake, we’ll look back on Bane’s first few weeks and chuckle. Whew, almost had us there. Honestly, that’s the most likely scenario barring injury. Bane didn’t go out there and thrive for years in Memphis to earn a well-deserved massive payday from the Magic after being the last player drafted in 2020’s first round.
He’s a two-way standout who is currently lost. Bane earned himself a one-way trip to the locker room in the third quarter of a 127-112 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday after recklessly pulling down Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu with one hand and then following through by spiking the ball down towards his head with the other in a single motion.
Desmond Bane was hit with a flagrant 1, a technical foul and ejected from the Magic-Hawks game.
He bounced the ball off Onyeka Okongwu after pulling him down by the elbow.
Thoughts? 🤔pic.twitter.com/tDfpYNIFii
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 5, 2025
It’s the most coordinated he’s looked in a Magic uniform. The play got him ejected and will draw at least an additional fine if not an additional suspension. There’s no defending what he did, but there’s an excuse for it.
Bane is feeling the weight of his early struggles, and hopefully this not so magic moment is rock bottom for him.
In 22:33, Bane finished with nine points, four fouls and turned it over three times. His 2-for-4 showing from 3-point range was actually a bright spot since it marked the first time he’d connected on half of his attempts in a game since the season-opening win over Miami and he’d come in on a 5-for-25 run.
For the third consecutive game, Bane failed to crack double-figures in scoring, although to be fair, he probably would have if he hadn’t lost his mind in the dirty play against Okongwu. The Magic need him to relax, find a rhythm and come into his own as the natural fit at shooting guard they thought they were acquiring when they mortgaged their future by sending a ton of draft capital Memphis’ way to land him this past summer.
Backcourt mate Jalen Suggs, still working his way back from undergoing knee surgery earlier this year, played just over 20 minutes, finishing with 12 points. He shot 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, scored 12 points and produced another three steals. Suggs had five thefts in the rout of Washington to open the month and should see his minutes increase as the days pass and the games pile up.
Patience will be necessary with Suggs, too. The Atlanta Hawks, even without injured All-Star Trae Young, are further along than Orlando is at the moment. They proved it by winning both meetings and will now be monitored from afar until the teams square off again at State Farm Arena on March 16.
If Bane hasn’t gotten acclimated by then, he’ll be out of excuses. If Suggs isn’t playing 30-plus minutes, this restriction a distant memory, something will have gone horribly wrong.
What this matchup on Nov. 4 proved is that this Magic backcourt is disjointed. Some will incorrectly point to Young’s absence as a reason Orlando should’ve persevered, but the fact he wasn’t around to be someone both guards could post up actually worked against the cause. Instead, Suggs and Bane had to deal with both Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels, two of the top backcourt defenders in the NBA.
They’re learning how to play with one another too, but came in with more rhythm and set the tone, combining to shoot 14-for-20 while knocking down four of six 3-point attempts. Alexander-Walker committed seven turnovers, so you can imagine how much uglier things would’ve gotten if he wasn’t going through an adjustment period himself. Atlanta’s new-look backcourt outscored Suggs and Bane 38-21, which was a bucket more than the margin of victory. That’s no coincidence.
This is still extended preseason. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley is stressing over his team’s sudden aversion to playing defense, but there have been enough flashes on that end to suggest progress is being made.
Bane needs to take a hard look at his ugly play and let go of it. That references both the singular transgression that got him ejected as his frustration hit a boiling point, and the extended struggles that drove him there. Bane needs to relax. He’s not going anywhere. Pressing to prove he’s worth what the Magic spent to land him is doing him no good.
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