Orlando Magic Are DANGEROUS! Desmond Bane TONE-SETTER & Most IMPORTANT Magic Player OVER Paolo?!

Orlando Magic Are DANGEROUS! Desmond Bane TONE-SETTER & Most IMPORTANT Magic Player OVER Paolo?!

was a little treat. The Eastern Conference put on their part of the programming and Desmond Bane, hello sir, 37 points, uh, six threes, five assists. He was everywhere all the time. Even though he had like early foul trouble, it was kind of nuts. Jaylen Suggs had 20. Norm Pal, um, weird night for him. 21 points, four of 12 from three. But the the Miami start to this game almost made me change the channel. Like, I legit thought we were going down one of those roads and then the Magic just kept storming back. They advanced. Six guys score in double figures. 47% from deep. Um first full game without Frrons Vagner and they seem to do okay. Yeah, this is the team that I think we thought we were going to see early on this season. This team that had a great run last year. This team that’s well coached and they defend and they added Desmond Bane which on paper is exactly what they needed. Now he got off to a slow start and now I feel like since his game winner almost a month ago now he has really really been cooking. So you see these highlights here. He provides the spacing. He provides the shooting. He he opens up the gaps for Fron, for Paulo, for window car to do his thing. So we always knew that they played hard and they defend and now they have shooting. They have depth. They have vers they have versatility. So I am looking forward to seeing them when they are whole with Fron Vagner because I hate the argument, you know, are they better without Paulo? Are we going to start the argument now? Are they better without bronze? If they win the argument, it’s just a conversation. I don’t like that. I just want to see this team whole and complete because I think all on the floor together. They’re versatile. They play hard. they defend and they can score in multiple different ways. So, this is the team that is a top four team. This is the team that should have homec court advantage in the Eastern Conference and this is the team that we thought we’re going to see early that’s now starting to peak. I couldn’t agree more. Uh I’m this this Orlando team is continuing to grow on me throughout this season. Um I think they’re now starting to get a clear-cut, you know, emotional leader in this team and Desmond Bane. Uh this is the the version of him that they traded for. This is exactly what they wanted. this was the fit that they were looking for and he’s he’s been performing. So, uh he was a perfect addition to this team. Um obviously they they’ve been up and down this season with with injuries, but you know, they’re staying afloat. They’re finding their rhythm and once they’re fully healthy, this is going to be a really dangerous team in the East. So, uh I’m I’m loving what I’m seeing from this group and uh like I said, I think they found their emotional leader in Desmond Bane and and that’s exactly what they needed. That’s why you go get somebody like a Desmond Bane in the trade market. Just in case somebody goes out, you got a dynamic score that can go up and put big numbers on the board for you and can hold you down on the offensive end. I just want to see him be consistent. He’s had these big 37 point splashes. He’s had 37 three times in the last six games. If I’m you, I’m lottery something 30, the number 37 for whatever he got going on with that. But the games in between is what I’m thinking about. You know, it’s a 14 in there, it’s a 15, and then it’s a it’s a single digit one in there. But then you have these big ones. I want to I want to see him be able to be consistent on that scoring end. But again, when a guy like Fran go out of the lineup, you have somebody that you know you can trust, you can lean on, go win you basketball games in Desmond. Let’s talk a little bit more on Desmond Bane. Um because again, when that trade happened, there was a lot of uh eye raising about the the cost to get him there. As far as picks were concerned, the 37 is interesting. He’s got three of those in his last six games. I don’t know what that kind of a weird numerology is. Um and it’s a lot of Vagner. a lot of Ben Caro and rightfully so on on team talk, right? Whose team is it? yada yada. However, Lou, the importance of a guy like Desmond Bane, he’s obviously bringing something that they don’t necessarily bring. How how big a deal is that? It’s a big deal. And and not only just because a guy is going in and out of the lineup with injury, but they’re a halfcourt basketball team. Desmond Bane is one of the better half court scorers that you’ve seen around the league. Got range. He’s going to he you have to respect the fact that he can shoot the three. So, his pump fake is starting to be deadly now. He can either drive the basketball, use his size and his strength to finish at the rim. He’s running through guys because he’s he’s physical enough of a guard that he can do that. He’s big enough where he can get over the rim. Like right here, these plays right here. I’m running through you. I’m not going around you. Anything. If you’re not going to respect me, I’mma bust your head at this three-point line. Even if you even if you run out and you contest at the three-point line, I’m going to give you a big head fake. I’m either going to finish at the rim or I’mma sideep. That’s somebody dangerous to have on your team, especially if this is your third tier guy that you’re looking for to score the basketball. That makes Orlando extremely dangerous. Yeah. When you can shoot the ball like him, it kind of just opens up the whole offense for everybody. Especially when you have a star like Paulo, he needs spacing, right? He needs lanes. He needs individual one-on-one matchups where he can expose smaller guys. He’s 610, 260. Most of the mismatches he has are on the block and off the block. Now, you can’t double him if you have Desmond Bane. And I don’t I think he’s shooting 35% right now from the field. and that’s or from the three and that’s only gonna go up because this dude is one of the best shooters in the league. He also brings like this toughness and swag and like the kind of he doesn’t back down for anyone. You look at all the stars across the league, he has mixed it up with every single one of them. He’s fearless. I think that started in Memphis with that culture and he’s bringing that now to this hard-nosed defensive team. And again, even when they don’t make shots, even when he started off slow, they’re still the number two defense in all the NBA. And when the playoffs come, defense travels. So you add now his shooting with that defensive capability. This team is really really dangerous. I agree. It is crazy when we look at him and he’s he’s the tough guy. Like I I would not You didn’t know anything, right? He’s goddamn he’s he’s bicep curling or is he just naturally gifted? That’s a bicep curl. That’s push-ups, pull-ups. Yeah, that’s some real meat head lifts. Really? I just didn’t think that was like a back. You guys don’t think so? I don’t know. Some people are just have great arms. It looked like he used to play football or something. Does look like a football player. Yeah. Is it crazy to look at that team be like that’s the tough guy. Would you have picked him out of that group? No, I mean I think it comes in many forms and um I mean at the end of the day every team needs that tough veteran presence. So uh I think he like uh Chandler said he brought that you know from that culture in Memphis. um you know him along with J Dylan Brooks they all kind of give that same type of energy and um I think this is the spark and the energy this Orlando team needed and you know we we we talk about the little um situation he had in in the last game against the Knicks situation I love that it’s a little he just threw a ball at someone’s face for that and nobody did nothing nobody did that should tell you how they feel about the and that also he pinged the ball off a guy and nobody did nothing but it also goes further because now you’re looking at, you know, this team meeting up in the NBA Cup and it’s, you know, once again, yes, that’s not going out of OG’s mind. And and I think it also has a mental part in the game that kind of gets overlooked as far as we can punk this New York Knicks team. We we I harm one of their better players. None of his team came to his defense. He didn’t really defend him defend himself. So, in my mind, I think I can punk this team. And I think that’s they going positive for Orlando, not positive for Orlando and not great for New York. But and when when you when you look at their team too, is is he the most important player? I don’t know if he’s the most important player. Like Paulo is obviously important. Fron Vagner is important. If you had to MVP the Magic today. I almost I don’t like Anthony Black Wendell Carter like these guys would be the guy for me because when you have so many star caliber guys when somebody like Wendell Carter, he’s going to benefit from playing with guys like that just by doing his job. So, he’s your MVP today on Wednesday. No, it it’ll still be Bane for me. Yeah, it’ll still be Bane and for what he’s doing. But when we’re talking about most important, right? Like you have a certain level of expectation for your top guys, but when it comes to your role players and the other guys, if they’re able to be in the right positions and do their jobs, those are going to be the guys that are going to win the games for you. when they start when they take away Fron in in the playoffs, when you limit uh Desmond Bane touches in the playoffs and you kind of take away some of their favorite actions, you force the ball to be in a guy like a Wendell Carter saying the black hands, those are the guys that can win you basketball games. Those are more important to me. Yeah. And what’s interesting is we we talk about how much you had to give up to get him. But now look what we’re talking about. We’re talking about he’s arguably their most important player. So is that deal bad? like was that obviously it was a lot and it’s exactly what they need and obviously they did it to win right now but even look at their young guys they got you know Jace Richardson they got Howard they got Dil Dilva like they have so many other young guys that don’t even really get that much opportunity and now Anthony Black every time pal goes out you see that dude has 20 plus points fron is out black’s going to stay aggressive so he’s another guy that’s like almost a star in the making in this team and we talk about their toughness these teams are products of their coaches the Pistons are tough obviously because the DNA and the guys in the locker room, but they’re tough cuz they’re following JB Biggerstaff who’s tough as Jamal Mosley is tough. He is going to in like their training camp it is was not easy. I guarantee it. Like their practices are not easy. Like Jamal Yeah, I was holding the signs in Orlando. No, that is just who Jamal Mosley is. So, yes, Desmond Bane brought that toughness to him, but this is also a Jamal Mosley coached team who is one of the tougher, cooler, great coaches in the NBA. Can we talk a little Paulo? I know he’s been back three games from the injury, Chandler, but the numbers aren’t quite, you know, where people would expect them to be. Um, and you would presume that those are all going to go up at some point, but it has to. I think it will. And again, listen, this is a stud and I feel like we love to nitpick him this year just cuz when he went out, they won games. There were stories about frustration with him and Jamal Mosy, which clearly that wasn’t right and that wasn’t an issue. So, I think they do need him to be elite. Their team is more complete now. They’re deep. They’re versatile. They have a lot of different ways they can hurt you, but his shot struggled early. He kind of just kept picking up his dribble and awkward moments. Like he’s still 20 and eight and which is still solid, but I feel like when we see a guy like him and his career and the trajectory of it, we feel like he’s a 25 plus guy. He needs to be more efficient. 44 from the field and 29 from three, I don’t think is good enough for a player of his caliber. So, yeah, I think he struggled a bit, but at the end of the day, they’re back in the four seed in the Eastern Conference, and he is pivotal to their future, and they and and they need him to be elite, which I think he will be. I I couldn’t agree more. And uh I think this is also, you know, a situation where it’s about development and adjusting your game. You had an incredible, you know, run last year, but teams are going to scout you. Teams are are going to look into your tendencies, your good and your bad, and that’s where you go into the offseason and you improve in all of those areas. So, I think this is a prime example of that. Um he’s still a young guy figuring himself out in the league, but once you find early success, a lot of teams harp on that and they start to, you know, attack your weaknesses and things of that nature. So, um I think this is just about development, continuing to grow as a player and as an individual. And um it’s no doubt in my mind this this young talent will end up finding its way and finding his footing again. But, um I don’t think it’s anything severe or anything to worry about. It’s just sometimes in you know throughout the season you have bad stretches and I think he’s just in a bad stretch right now. Yeah, that’s a great point. like you go through the season and you have bad stretches and and again he’s coming off an injury. So I think those numbers are going to beef up, but I think as his coach, Mo’s got to do a better job of getting them easier looks, right? Like when I when I look at Paulo play, everything is off the dribble. Everything with the ball is in his hands. He’s having to create playmake for himself and for others. At his size, he shouldn’t be dribbling that much. We got to figure out a way to make the game easier for him and allow him to be a better rhythm player. You know, like if he’s bringing the ball up the court and he’s trying to break you down off the dribble, it doesn’t work. He’s kicking it out to the next guy. They got to figure out a way to put the ball in his hands 18 ft from the rim where he can face up, where he can use his size, whether he’s going to fade away, whether he’s going to run through you, whatever. But everything that he does on the offensive end, it can’t be off the dribble. And I think once they clean some of that up, once Mo finds a way to make the game easier for him, draw up some sets for him to get easier looks, use his size, even put him in the post a little bit, uh, you know, create some create some switches, create some mismatches, and I think that’s when you start to see the numbers going up, but right now he’s playing too much off the dribble for me. Got to talk a little Miami here, Lou. And I I’ll go back to you on this one. They’ve lost five of their last six. I Last night was crazy. Like I said, it was like 13-0 before this thing even really started. They looked they were fast. That’s how they’ve looked the season. But now it seems like things are starting to trend backwards a little bit. And now are we looking at another eighth place finish for the Heat? Like this is kind of where they are. Yeah. Like that’s starting to be their MO. And they kind of they got to get out of that rut of becoming a playin playoff team. And we always talk about Heat culture and these things. This is our third season talking about their culture, but we’ve been talking about it in the sense of them playing catchup all the time. They got to be one of the premier teams from the start to the finish if we’re going to start respecting these guys. and and also you’re looking at the core of this team. This is a number of years that they’ve been together. If they can’t clean this up, they’re going to start looking around the league to to change some of that heat culture and and some of the guys that we’re we’re accustomed to seeing in a in a Miami Heat uniform. You know, Tyler Hero didn’t have his best night at the three-point line last night, but again, if you’re going to play fast like that and you’re going to you’re going to shoot early in the shot clock, you got to get stops. And Miami haven’t been able to do that. Yeah, I’ll say this. Tai Heroes played six games, right? So that that’s a 25 a night type guy that they can kind of count on and rely on. Their front court with Bam and Wear has the potential to be one of the better front courts in the NBA. Then they have this combination of guards with Wiggins and Hawz and Norman Pal who’s been great for them. So this team is confusing to me because they play faster now. They’re a lot they’re not a lot of pick and roll. They get downhill on you. They’re third in points per game and they’re the fifth defensive team in the NBA. So like how are they not good? Like I don’t get it. They play fast. They’re efficient and they defend, yet they still don’t win ball games. So, they’re not the deepest team, but like it it’s just very confusing to me to see they’re a seven eight seed. I think they’re going to be a very scary 78 seed, but still they’re just they’re missing something here and and I don’t exactly know what it is, but on paper they are a lot better than they really are. That’s what I’m saying. The stats, the stats tell you different. The stats they should be a top four team. The stats tell you different, but when you watch the game, they give up a lot of three-pointers. Like look at the night that Desmond Bay had. They’re not guarding the three-point line and that comes from running and gunning. You gota you gotta touch up some of these things when you’re playing that f when you’re playing that fast and guys are mismatched and you’re getting back on defense and it creates a lot of confusion for them. They got to be able to get somebody to rim protect and do the things that’s needed for them to get over the hump of some of these games. Yeah. Shall we talk about the other game happened up in Canada last night? Look at this. New York wins a

On December 10, 2025 episode of ‘Run It Back’ on FanDuel TV, co-hosts Michelle Beadle, Boogie Cousins, Chandler Parsons, and Lou Williams react to New York Knicks vs Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat vs Orlando Magic. Knicks & Magic headed to Las Vegas for NBA Cup. They are also joined by former Indiana Pacers Al Harrington!

FULL EPISODE HERE: https://youtube.com/live/r_71RE4zDeI

CHAPTERS
0:00 DESMOND BANE PUNCHES MAGIC TICKET TO VEGAS
3:06 BANE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER
9:03 PAOLO NEEDS TO BE A LEGIT STAR TO CONTEND?
11:48 MIAMI HEAT DESTINED FOR PLAY-IN?

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