What the Desmond Bane blockbuster means for the value of Charlotte's top trade assets

Did LaMelo Ball or Miles Bridges' value on the market change post-Bane trade?

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On Sunday morning the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies swung a deal that altered the race for the 2025-26 NBA title. Orlando acquired sweet-shooting swingman Desmond Bane for veterans Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, and a smorgasbord of future first-round picks, headlined by an unprotected first-rounder from the Phoenix Suns in 2026.

Unfortunately for the Charlotte Hornets, they share a division with Orlando's new big three of Bane, Paolo Banchero, and Franz Wagner. With the Eastern Conference looking wide open amidst the potential demises of Boston and Milwaukee, Orlando swung for the fences and maximized their odds at representing the East in next season's NBA Finals.

While this impacts Charlotte greatly for next season and beyond, it could affect them this summer as well.

The pair of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges have both been named in trade rumors for the better part of a year. Now that their division rival sent the farm for a star, shouldn't Charlotte expect a massive haul in return for one of their primary building blocks? Not so fast.

Any conversation comparing one of Charlotte's trade chips to Bane has to start with the newest Magic's game.

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Desmond Bane is one of the league's premier three-and-D wings. However, don't let the moniker normally issued to role players taint your thoughts about Bane; he's an absolute hooper.

Predominantly a three-point marksman, Bane has developed a nice floor game to pair with his sweet shooting stroke. The former Grizzly has turned himself into a well-rounded offensive player that can both score off the bounce and create shots for his teammates while being an elite marksman from downtown. When Ja Morant missed time (which has happened a bunch in recent years), Bane became Memphis' primary initiator and the Grizzlies rarely missed a beat.

On defense, Bane is a true stopper. While he doesn't boast the traditional physical tools of an elite wing defender, he displays top notch lateral agility to match dogged 'want-to' on that end.

The best part about Bane? He doesn't need the ball to thrive. He is best served as a secondary creator that can knock down open jumpers created by his teammates and attack a tilted, closing out defense while locking down opposing ball handlers when his team guards.

His unselfish play style makes Bane the ideal second or third option on a championship team, which Orlando obviously paid a steep tax for. The 2025 NBA playoffs have hammered home the fact that championship-level teams are stocked with two-way players who can impact winning without pounding the ball into the floor as a primary ball handler. Desmond Bane is the platonic ideal of the player you surround a superstar with, and acquiring a player of that ilk is going to be expensive.

Back to Ball and Bridges, neither of whom plays the style of basketball that Bane does.

Both LaMelo and Miles thrive with the ball in their hands. Ball boasted one of the league's highest usage rates in 2024-25 before he went down with an injury, playing the brand of heliocentric basketball that was left in the 2010s. There's a very specific context needed to maximize LaMelo Ball's otherworldly strengths, unlike Bane, who can thrive in any system.

Bridges, a wing who does have role player traits, played his worst basketball of the season when he was relegated to the third banana in Charlotte behind Ball and Brandon Miller. Miles' game is maximized when he can run offense and attack the cup with his downhill driving skill as a primary initiator, not as a spot-up shooter that attacks closeouts.

Combine their need for the ball with Ball's CVS receipt-length injury history and Bridges' off-the-court history and you have significantly less trade value than Hornets fans want to believe.

In my opinion, a LaMelo Ball trade would net three assets (a combination of young players and first-round picks) in Charlotte, whereas the Hornets would need to add assets to dump Bridges salary to another franchise.

Don't let the Desmond Bane trade fool you, folks. Bane's value is as high as it could be on the heels of the 2025 playoffs, and both Bridges and Ball absolutely lag behind in league-wide value compared to the newest member of the Orlando Magic.

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