Desmond Bane was on vacation on the Gulf Coast of Florida with his family one year ago when the trade dropped.
Trades rarely catch players completely by surprise, especially when they are key players. But it hit hard as a rare May trade while the NBA Finals were ongoing.
It felt like the Eastern Conference shifted with as he quickly arrived in Orlando for a brief introduction to his new team.
That handshake showed Bane's eagerness to join the team and start anew. It showed his excitement about being part of a team with lofty aspirations and his belief that he could help.
Bane took a while to fit in. He seemed eager to appease his teammates, just as they were trying to defer and include him. It was an early mish-mash and feeling-out process that was not fully cooked.
But the effort and intention were always there. Bane would eventually find his way and find his rhythm. He would give the Magic the 3-point shooting they so desperately needed.
What never wavered was his belief in what this team could be.
On a team full of young players and amid a season full of frustration, Bane quickly became the consistent voice in the locker room and a steady drumbeat on the court -- he played all 82 games for the first time in his career.
Bane was fully bought in. He was as clear as anyone else on the roster trying to figure out how to get the team back on track and back where they all expected them to be.
In a season where injuries took players out, the team's identity seemed to get lost and frustration took over, Bane was the most consistent and clearest voice.
He was the team's MVP.
A player who cost the team a lot, but proved worth it on the floor. He helped keep the Magic afloat. In one year, he became core to what the team wants to do.
Bane delivered on the court
The same cry New York Knicks are giving over Mikal Bridges is the one that Orlando Magic fans have been shouting all season, too. To them, Desmond Bane was well worth the cost.
Bane did not lead the team in scoring, but he quickly proved why he is so valuable. He was the ideal guard for the team, a constant threat from three but able to attack off the dribble with the ball in his hands. He had two 30-point games without making a 3-pointer.
Bane averaged 20.1 points per game. He shot only 39.1 percent from three on 5.2 3-pointers per game, the fewest since his rookie year. The percentage was roughly the same as his 2025 season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The 3-point shooting was the most vexing. Orlando seemed unable to get him the healthy diet of looks that made him one of the most dangerous volume shooters in the league.
Was that part of the Magic's offensive scheme, or was it because injuries forced him on the ball more? He finished with the same number of drives per game as his 2025 season in Memphis, according to Second Spectrum -- 10.8 this year against 10.5 last year.
Bane went with the flow. He was constantly trying to make things work, stepping up when needed.
Once Bane found his role and his fit, and everyone just started playing instead of accommodating each other, Bane delivered everything the Magic hoped for.
Even in the Playoffs, where the Detroit Pistons put star defender Ausar Thompson on him to prevent him from elevating the Orlando Magic's offense, he still managed to average 18.1 points per game and shoot 43.1 percent on 8.3 3-point attempts per game.
That is closer to what the Magic imagined. His 25 points and seven 3-pointers were vital in the Game 3 win. He made at least three 3-pointers in the final five games of the series. Detroit's fears were warranted.
But that is only part of what Bane delivered in his first season in Orlando.
Bane stayed invested
No one would deny that the Orlando Magic failed to live up to expectation. Everyone could feel it.
The whole season was spent quietly trying to solve what plagued the team.
Things the team took for granted were present throughout the season. It was a constant fight to try to make things work.
Desmond Bane did not have the frame of reference that his teammates, who had been with the Magic and Jamahl Mosley so long, had.
When media members questioned him about the team's struggles and this lost identity, Bane would challenge them by asking, "What identity?" It was not something he had experienced.
But it was something he and his teammates would fight for. It was something he was searching for, even quietly asking reporters for their frame of historical reference. He was trying to understand his teammates to help the team reach its potential.
Bane was often talking with teammates in the locker room seeking answers or pointing out adjustments the team could make. After the late-season loss to the Atlanta Hawks, he briefly shooed reporters out of a busy locker room so the team could continue talking openly about the embarrassing defeat.
It was as close to confirmation of a players' only meeting that anyone could get, even if Bane said such conversations were commonplace.
Orlando never fully solved those problems. It remains a mystery why the Magic fell off so much. The team lacked some urgency throughout the season.
But the perception, at least, was that Bane was among the group constantly trying to talk and find the way out internally in that locker room. Bane never lost that urgency or desire to make this work.
It was clear -- even in the silly moments when Bane would draw flagrant fouls for various extra-curricular activities -- that Bane never lost his passion or his belief in this team.
The team will have to start from scratch with a new coach next season, even if nobody can doubt the talent on this team. Bane is a big part of what can make this team great, both on and off the court.
He made himself a core piece of the team. And one thing surely will not waver:
Bane will still believe.
