Shooting Guard Desmond Bane has taken yet another leap in his young NBA career, as he inches ever-so-closer to superstardom.
The third-year two-guard out of TCU has greatly improved his scoring output; from 18.2 points per game to 24.2 points per game. Bane has blossomed into a co-star alongside Ja Morant this year, averaging career highs of 24.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Bane has established himself as one of the NBA’s elite 3-point shooters, ranking fifth in 3s made per game (3.8) while hitting a career-best 45.1% of his long-range attempts. He’s been electric since the beginning of the season; Bane has scored 20+ points seven times this year. Bane is among the elite scorers in the season’s infancy; cracking the top-15 scorers at number 14. Bane comes in at the number four spot in scoring for all two-guards so far this season. He only trails Donavan Mitchell, Devin Booker, and Jaylen Brown; those three players occupy the numbers 1, 2, and 3 spots respectively.
Bane has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 sprain of his right big toe and will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
Bane suffered the injury during the Grizzlies’ win Friday night over the Minnesota Timberwolves and sat out Sunday’s loss to the Washington Wizards. Before going down with injury in the victory over the Timberwolves; he scored 24 points on 43.8% field goal percentage. He struggled from three only shooting 2-7 on the night. However, he would go perfect from the charity stripe with 8 of 8 made.
How will the Grizzlies handle the loss of their second-best player? Clearly, it all falls back on superstar point guard Ja Morant and coach Taylor Jenkins to weather the storm for the foreseeable future while Bane rehabs. The good news is that Jaren Jackson Jr. made his way back into the rotation in the Grizzlies most recent loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Jaren will certainly have to step up and help carry the burden. Truthfully, he hasn’t lived up to the “potential superstar” tag he was gifted with on draft night back in 2018, but he can still be a very strong piece in the Grizzlies big 3.
The Grizzlies next outing will be against the Oklahoma City Thunder (6-8) on Friday, November 18th @ 7:00p.m.
