A network device includes a transfer buffer having a plurality of memory banks, and a transfer buffer controller configured to perform a first number of write operations to write processed packets into a memory bank of the transfer buffer, monitor occupancy of the transfer buffer, and when occupancy of the transfer buffer is at least equal to a threshold, perform a predetermined number of read operations during each memory cycle, and when occupancy of the transfer buffer is less than the threshold, perform a second number of read operations, greater than the predetermined number, during each memory cycle. The device concurrently performs multiple read operations and multiple write operations in a single cycle using a plurality of ports. The buffer controller distributes data among the memory banks by allocating write addresses to keep memory occupancy substantially uniform among the memory banks, thereby freeing ports to allow performance of read operations.