Desmond Bane's impressive collegiate career wasn't enough to make him a top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He got selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 30th overall pick and has made the teams that passed on him regret it.
After a solid rookie campaign, Bane is averaging 17.4 points and shooting 41.6 percent on 3-pointers to help Ja Morant lead a young, injury-riddled Grizzlies team to the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. He told The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov that he still thinks about getting passed on 29 times in the draft.
“I will never let it go,” he said. “I feel like teams had their chance to get me and knew who I was. It wasn’t like I was one of those one-and-done guys. You had four years to do your research on me. All my background stuff checked out. That’s on them.”
Vorkunov mentioned that Bane thought he could have been drafted as high as tenth overall to the Phoenix Suns. Memphis' draft steal has a theory as to why so many teams passed on him.
“Old,” Bane said. “Short wingspan. Didn’t know if any of my stuff on the ball would translate.”
Bane, 6'4” with the relatively short wingspan to match, was 22 when he entered the league, older than the vast majority of prospects taken high in the draft. The Grizzlies were the beneficiaries of teams valuing younger players, and now have a highly talented two-way wing to help them get back to the playoffs.
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