The OKC Thunder and Indiana Pacers may currently be duking it out for the right to be crowned NBA Champions, but, based on recent events, the rest of the league already seems to be planting the seeds for their own shot at glory for the 2025-26 season and beyond.
Sunday, ESPN's NBA Insider Shams Charania broke the news that the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic had agreed on a blockbuster deal that would ship Desmond Bane away from Grind City and out to the Sunshine State.
In return, Memphis will be taking back a haul of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap.
Now, while on the surface, this move may be somewhat surprising to see, as the win-now Grizzlies had just won 48 games this past campaign while sporting one of the best young cores in the league headlined by Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Ja Morant, even with their successes, it was clear that Memphis still had plenty of issues that held them back from legitimate title-contender status.
This became painfully obvious during their first-round drubbing against the Thunder.
Thunder made Grizzlies realize they needed to make serious shakeups
There were only two teams in the entire association who succumbed to quarterfinal sweeps this postseason, and the Grizzlies were one of them, thanks to the Thunder.
Oklahoma City held Memphis to the fourth-lowest point per game average (100.5), second-lowest three-point percentage (30.4), and worst overall field goal percentage (41.5) in round one while registering in with the second-best scoring (120.0) and sixth-best shooting clip (45.7) themselves.
They also wrapped with the top defensive rating (97.6) and second-highest point differential (+19.5).
Considering how well-positioned the Thunder are for achieving dynasty status, it's widely understood that every team in the NBA has its work cut out for them to position themselves to compete with such a squad moving forward.
Perhaps no team came to such a realization in a more dramatic fashion than the Grizzlies.
Because of this, not only have they opted to part ways with the 26-year-old sharpshooter building block (one of three players with 800 made triples on 40.0 percent shooting from deep since 2020), but they've now added a championship-tested 3&D wing in Caldwell-Pope, much-needed backcourt depth with Anthony, and, perhaps the biggest add, a slew of draft picks to fill the rest of their rotation.
It may not be obvious on the surface, considering they lost the biggest name in the exchange, but Memphis' decision to strike on this deal is a clear sign that they're looking to upgrade their overall roster for a chance to pursue an NBA title in the next few seasons.
Their round one loss to the Thunder almost certainly made them realize drastic changes needed to be made for them to have a shot at doing so.