Paolo Banchero Opened Up About His 50 Ball On Pardon My Take And It's Officially Time To Start Paying Serious Attention To The Orlando Magic
Heading into the season, if you were to guess who would have the first 50 ball of the new year, who would you go with? Luka? Tatum? Ant? Jokic? Embiid? Steph? KD? All great choices and guys who are known to explode once they find themselves in the zone on the court.
The answer? Paolo Banchero
Prior to that 50 burger, Paolo's career high was 43. He hit 42 another time against the Cavs back in 2023, and those were the only two times in his young career he broke 40 before his explosion on Monday. He's off to a terrific start (28.5/9.3/6.0 on 48/39%) for the Magic and is playing like he knows that if he makes All NBA this season then it triggers his eligibility for a supermax extension, and once you get into that territory you're talking $300M+. I'd be motivated as hell too.
With the Magic slated to face the Bulls tonight, Paolo stopped by PMT where he broke down the feeling of that 50 ball
and coming off this interview I figured it was the perfect time to talk about something that is easily one of the biggest storylines in the East through the first week of the NBA season.
It's time to take the Orlando Magic seriously. For real this time.
We saw flashes of their ascension these last few years, especially with their leap last year, when they went from 34 wins in 2022-23 to 47 wins in 2023-24. What I love about them is that they're built organically and through savvy front office moves. They aren't some hot spot free agent destination (yet), so it was crucial that they nail their rebuild. As someone who just enjoyed watching his favorite team win a title with a bunch of homegrown talent, I'm always partial to teams who take their rebuild seriously, are patient, and then get to see it blossom into one of the best teams in the conference.
Paolo, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, Jonathan Isaac, and Anthony Black (maybe), are all draft hits. Trading for Wendall Carter Jr was a great return for Vucevic. Mo Wagner is a great value signing.
The thing that began the Magic's rise up the East is something that is the foundation of every successful rebuild. Their defense. It's fucking incredible. Off to a top 7 start this year, the Magic had the 3rd ranked defense last season which is when they made their leap. They have legit point of attack defense in Jalen Suggs (All NBA Defender), Paolo is versatile and can guard multiple positions, they added KCP who is legit wing defensive depth, Jonathan Isaac is a DPOY candidate when healthy, this entire roster has size, length, and versatility. All things you need to compete in 2024.
Their issue was of course their offense. The Magic simply couldn't score. As good as their defense was last year, they ranked just 22nd offensively. Their shooting was rough, their point guard play was spotty, and that was always going to be the natural progression of their rebuild. Establish the defense first, add shooting, get some internal improvement from your young players and you're off and running.
Well? That is exactly what is happening. The Magic's offense to start the year ranks 7th in the NBA. They're 10th in points per game at 115.5 which is a pretty big jump from their 24th ranking last year (110.5). The biggest difference? Not just Paolo going nuts, but their entire approach as a team. That shooting issue? The Magic currently take the 6th most 3PA in the league (42.0) and are shooting 37.5%, which is good for 10th. The biggest contributor to this jump in my opinion is the leap Jalen Suggs has made as a shooter
We saw signs of this last year when he shot 39% on 5.1 3PA a game, but so far this year he's backed that up with 45.2% on 7.8 3PA a game. Not only does he look more comfortable, but it's a legitimate weapon for him offensively. You pair that with the All NBA defense he's already giving the Magic, and to me, that's a pretty big deal.
It should also be noted that Franz Wagner is off to a great start shooting the ball as well. Here's a guy who shot 28.1% last season on 4.6 3PA and is currently at 44.0% on 6.3 3PA. If his outside shooting is figured out and is somewhere in the high 30s this year, that is also a very big deal.
When you look across the East right now, the big market teams everyone was sucking off all offseason look mostly like dogshit. Then there are teams like CLE and ORL who nobody really talked about who continue to have forward progress in their rebuilds and outside of the Celts have the two best starts in the East. That's not an accident.
The biggest thing we all said about the 2023-24 Magic was "wait until they figure out their offense". Well, in the small sample we have to work with, it appears their offense can at least be league average, which might be enough for 50 wins and a top 4 seed.
Catch the rest of the Paolo interview below if you haven't seen it yet, and let this be your warning to start paying attention to the Magic because not only are they fun as hell to watch, everything we're seeing looks pretty sustainable moving forward.