Desmond Bane on joining new-look Magic: 'I'm super excited'

Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor spoke with the new Magic guard about what he expects to bring to Orlando and how the team is preparing for the season. Check out the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

What was your assessment of this Magic roster from the outside, and how does your presence on the team change it?

I think they have a unique roster, you know, the size they have on this roster is unreal.

I mean, you look at Jalen Suggs is a big guard.

Anthony Black’s a bigger guard, and then next to them you have 6’10” wings, and forwards, so it’s no secret why they were such a good defensive team.

I’m super excited.

The guys are really good guys.

Seems like we got a chance to do something special.

Do you expect to be shooting possibly a career high amount of threes for the Magic this year, because that’s what’s missing: 3-point shooting.

Would you expect to maybe be cracking 8 or 9 threes a game this year?

Yeah, I mean, I think that’s the goal.

We’ve been playing and scrimmaging over the last two weeks and it’s very apparent what they want from me, you know, they want me to shoot threes.

They want me to be aggressive to score the ball.

Every time they feel like I can get a shot off, they let me know about it.

So I think that I’ll definitely have career numbers as far as the threes.

When it got reported that the Magic gave up four first-round swaps, KCP, Cole Anthony, for you, there was a lot of reaction on social media.

Some Magic fans said, yes, this is exactly what we needed.

Then a lot of other fans were like, wow, the Magic gave up that much for Desmond Bane.

What was your reaction to the reaction when some people said, wow, the Magic gave up that much for him.

Yeah, I mean, it really doesn’t move me one way or another.

When I had talks with Jeff, you know, kind of similar to some of the stuff you’re saying, he feels like I was one of the missing pieces to get them over the top.

It’s my job to go out there and win basketball games and improve the decision-making, right?

And that’s what we’re gonna do.

I feel like from my perspective, Paolo is the guy who determines your ceiling this year, from championship contenders or just a really good team that takes a big step.

Um, but I think Ben Carroll taking that step moving forward, uh, is key to this season.

Have you practiced with him so far as well?

Yeah, we just had a team mini camp, um, in Vegas.

He’s gonna be a monster, and the thing that I like about him a lot is he, like, he’s very selfless, like he, uh, he just wants to win.

I expect a big season out of him, and I think he expects a big season out of himself.

Uh, more than anything, I can just feel the hunger, you know, that he has coming into the season, so I’m I’m super excited to get around him and, uh, you know, happy to be able to complement his skill set.

Desmond Bane on joining new-look Magic: ‘I’m super excited’

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