Big Trade Weekend + Father's Day

 Welcome back! I feel like the NBA finals game 4 was a million years ago but it was just this Friday. Another thrilling game. If you ignore all the chatter from ESPN or the internet at large this has been one of the best finals I can remember. So many close games and clutch plays from the big players on each team. I think OKC takes the game tonight but I'm hoping Indiana forces game 7 when they head back home. Anyway, a couple of trades this weekend in baseball and basketball that I can't help but talk about here! Then I wanted to take a small section to shout out Father's day, which to me feels relevant on a sports blog. 

Rafael Devers Trade

The big one in baseball! I was at my parent's house for dinner when I got the notification that Devers was traded from the Red Sox to the Giants for primarily Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison. I am so out of touch with the MLB outside of the Blue Jays so my analysis here won't be as detailed as the NBA trade coming up below, but I was pretty shocked to see this one. Devers is one of the best hitters in baseball. He had just recently signed a 13 year deal with the Red Sox to be their franchise guy going forward, kind of similar to Vlad's big deal with the Jays. Apparently there had been issues in the clubhouse for a while now, primarily around Devers wanting to play 3rd base but now being blocked by Alex Bregman who's much better with the glove. He gets moved to SF where he'll be still stuck behind former Jay Matt Chapman, one of the best defensive third baseman in baseball right now. First glance I was pretty shocked. They got a couple of MLB ready pitchers who are good but not great and not much else for a fan favorite and superstar. I already saw comparisons drawn to the out of the blue Luka trade seeing as though the Red Sox didn't shop him around at all. As a Jays fan, I'll take it. This gets another super talented player out of the division and far enough away that he can barely harm the Jays anymore. In 105 games against the Jays in his career, Devers has an OPS of .937. In the NL they only need to deal with his terror for a few games a season. Nothing too deep from me here, just a shocker of a trade and big shakeup in the AL East.

Desmond Bane Trade  

This one made me gasp as well! Desmond Bane was traded from the Grizzlies to the Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, 4 first round picks and a first round pick swap. At first glance I, just like most people thought, that's a lot of picks for Desmond Bane. As I started thinking about it more and more, I started kind of liking it for the Magic. 4 firsts and a swap is a lot of picks that is true, but the Magic are in a weird spot where you could convince yourself they're just a player like this away. Last season the Magic finished 41-41 despite missing both Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero for large parts of the season. Jalen Suggs who's their heart and soul also missed a bunch of time including pretty much the entire back half of the year. The Magic had the 3rd worst offense in the league, only slightly better than the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets, 2 teams actively trying to lose for most of the year. They hit the fewest amount of 3s out of anyone in the league at only 11.2 per game and shot the lowest percentage from deep at only 31.8% as a team. Despite this, they have a 22 year old who just averaged 26/8/5 in Paolo Banchero and a 23 year old who just averaged 24/6/5 in Franz Wagner. Both of those guys strengths are driving to the basket and making plays out of those drives. Both of those guys have played on Magic teams that have had absolutely no shooting and have still managed to find their offense. They've tried and failed to find that volume 3 point shooter that can help give these guys space and finally give the Magic a respectable offense. KCP who went out the other way in this trade was their latest attempt and he wound up shooting just 34% from deep on only 4.3 attempts per game. Enter Desmond Bane. 

Bane is one of the best 3 point shooters in basketball right now. Last season he shot 39% on 6.1 attempts per game and on his career he's at 41% on 6.3 attempts. Fans love Bane's hustle and despite his shorter arms, he's a dogged defender who you can be comfortable keeping on the floor at all times. Bane's a decent on ball creator, but that's not his strength and the best basketball of his career comes when Ja Morant is creating and Bane's just relied on to finish. In Orlando, he figures to be that 3rd option running around creating space for their 2 young budding stars, the perfect role for him. Bane is 27 years old making him a good fit for the next 5 seasons with Paolo and Franz. Just to put it in perspective, last season in 69 games Desmond Bane made 164 three pointers. The last Orlando Magic players to hit at least that many 3s are both out of the league: Terrance Ross and Evan Fournier both in 2019/2020. This is a skillset they've desperately needed and a guy who's genuinely one of the best in the world at it. Yeah 4 picks and a swap is a lot of stuff. Could you have talked yourself into maybe using those to get an even better star? Maybe! End of the day though Desmond Bane is the perfect fit for what Orlando already has in place, he's at an age that matches up with their core pretty well and the team is already full of young players and depth while keeping this year's pick, so I don't think they'll miss these draft picks all that much. From Memphis' perspective, you're selling high on a good player. The Grizzlies have to take 4 firsts and a swap for Bane if offered, you can't call it a loss for them really, but I don't think it's as much of a loss for Orlando as the internet is suggesting. I'm excited to watch the Magic next year. This should open up their offense a ton and maybe we'll finally see a Magic team that can score.

Father's Day

And last thing here! Shout out to Father's everywhere who are into sports and sharing that love with their kids. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad flipping to the Leafs game when my Treehouse show went to commercial only for me to moan and groan. I remember him teaching me that we can like the Montreal Canadiens as much as the Leafs because they're from Canada too. A very controversial lesson for sure. As I grew up, my dad would always buy us Jays tickets. I probably took for granted as a kid how cool it was to be able to go to 5-6 Jays games a year with my family. I got big into the Jays and would have tons of conversations with my dad about the stats of the various guys on the team. He saw that passion and made sure to keep me involved with the team. I will never forget the countless Raptors games I watched where my dad would groan every time our best 3 point shooters shot a 3 claiming they need to drive into the paint more. On top of just watching, even signing my brothers and I up for softball every year and the grind it took to get 3 boys to practices and games while only having 1 car all summer. There's no way I'd be the person I am today without playing sports and my father enabling that is something I'm forever grateful for! Obviously dad's are about more than just sports, but my love for sports is rooted in my dad and I'd be wrong if I didn't give him a shout out on this blog for Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all who celebrate!

And that's that! I love when my posts write themselves and big trades will do that! Go Thunder tonight I think, lets get back on track with your MJ legacy Shai!!