This summer, the Orlando Magic made a massive splash by trading for Desmond Bane. They wanted to bring in a player to help their weak offense. Last season, only two teams scored fewer points than the Magic did in the regular season.
Adding Bane gave them hope that they would have better outside shooting, which would help increase their offensive output. They still have a below-average offense, but the fall-off on the defensive side is the bigger issue. Bane isn’t a bad defensive player, though.
In a game against the Hawks on Tuesday night, Desmond Bane was ejected for a flagrant foul. It was reviewed and was updated to a Flagrant 2 foul. After the game, Bane was shocked that he was ejected for what he thought was a simple basketball play.
Orlando Magic Guard Desmond Bane Shocked to be Ejected For Flagrant Foul
Bane was ejected for a foul that he committed on Onyeka Okongwu. The action that likely got him ejected was slamming the ball into him after he pulled him to the ground.
After he was ejected, he was asked about the foul in the locker room and was shocked that he was ejected following the review of the play.
“Hard foul. I mean, we talk about that — no easy baskets. Nothing at the rim. Make them see the lights [on the ceiling] and hard foul. I swiped at the ball, and it happened to hit him and they made the call that they made.”
The Magic ended up losing the game 127-112, and Bane was ejected in the third quarter. Had he not been tossed from the game, he may have been able to help them win that game with some solid offense. Instead, he had to watch the rest of the game from inside the locker room.
The Orlando Magic Need More From Desmond Bane
Since being traded to the Magic, Bane has taken a major step back offensively. He’s averaging six points fewer than he did last year with the Grizzlies. He’s shooting less than 29 percent from beyond the three-point line, which was the whole reason Orlando traded for him.
If the Magic expect to be one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, they need more from Bane. As an offensively-challenged team, they need Bane to help spread the floor and make more buckets. He is the player with the most pure offensive talent on the roster other than Paolo Banchero.
Orlando sits 10th in the Eastern Conference standings after this loss. It’s still very early in the season, so they can certainly turn it around. They can’t afford to have important players like Bane get ejected for silly fouls like this in the second half of games.
Jamahl Mosley understands his team needs to be better, and said so after this game.
“Turnovers, the defensive effort wasn’t there. We let the offense dictate our defense. That’s on me. I didn’t do a great job of getting these guys prepared for this game tonight.”
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