Maybe it's just me but this really seems like quibbling over semantics. Cash is fungible: banks need cash in order to lend it out and they get cash from deposits. The rest is just bookkeeping.
banks need deposits to keep their leverage ratio in check.
and due to overleveraging one unit of deposit ends up as multiple units of loans.
and sure, deposits are not the main factor for lending, risk is. but usually taking deposits is cheaper than taking out a loan from an institution and lending that out. hence banks want/need deposits.