During a wild day of free agency, the Memphis Grizzlies made a number of notable moves. Besides bringing in veteran point guard Derrick Rose, they also locked up one of their own with a shiny new contract worth over $200 million.
Posted late on Friday night, Adrian Wojnarowski revealed the news of Desmond Bane’s new contract with the Memphis Grizzlies that will keep him in town for the next half-decade.
“BREAKING: Memphis Grizzlies G Desmond Bane has agreed on a five-year, $207M max contract extension, his agents Jim Tanner, Max Wiepking and Terrence Felder of @_Tandemse tell ESPN. Grizzlies’ cornerstone players — Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Bane — are secured long-term.”
BREAKING: Memphis Grizzlies G Desmond Bane has agreed on a five-year, $207M max contract extension, his agents Jim Tanner, Max Wiepking and Terrence Felder of @_Tandemse tell ESPN. Grizzlies’ cornerstone players — Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Bane — are secured long-term. pic.twitter.com/tFeXZedcst
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023
At just 25 years old, Bane has cemented himself as a franchise player for the Grizzlies. In 58 games last season, he averaged 21.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 47% shooting.
Alongside Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., Bane is highly valuable as a perimeter shooter and pure shot-maker, but he can also hold his own on defense as well. Extending his contract was really a no-brainer move for the Grizzlies given the alternatives.
The real question for this team now is regarding Ja Morant, and whether or not he’s ready to lead. If he can leave all of the shenanigans in the past and just focus on being the best player he can be, there is no limit to how good the Grizzlies can be.
Of course, he’ll still serve those 25 games before he can play a minute on the NBA court.
Are The Grizzlies Title Contenders?
While it might be easy to dismiss Memphis as pretenders in the West, they were once at the top of the standings when fully healthy. Sadly, injuries derailed their season and the loss of Steven Adams was essentially the beginning of the end for the Grizzlies last season.
Next time, the hope is that this group can stay healthy so they can keep the team afloat without Ja and compete for a title when he finally returns. Re-signing Bane was just one step in keeping this team together, but there is still so much work to be done in Memphis.
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