Who is Paolo Banchero?

[zaymon]

Fultz/Harris/Wagner/Banchero/Carter but both Fultz and Carter look broken mentally and scared so i wouldnt rule out starting Anthony or even waiting until all star break to start Black instead of Markelle. WCJ is more worrying. Guy shows why Bulls gave up on him i hope he can bounce back but i saw the signs last year too. Gets easly frustrated, bad hands.

Yeah unless Suggs suddenly becomes an average shooter, I could see him being benched for Harris sooner rather than later. This forum will have a complete meltdown though, lol. This is just a band-aid fix though.

I don’t see Cole starting as an option. He’s a bench guy. He signed a bench player deal. He’s good in his role - but he brings nothing to the table if his shot isn’t falling so he can’t be a starter.

Unless a trade is made the PG solution isn’t on this roster. Considering Franz is an average shooter, Paolo is below average shooter and Suggs is a below average shooter, The FO attaching this season’s hopes to a non-shooting PG is such a fail.

I'll have an aneurysm if we bench Suggs

Suggs is better than Fultz and should start over him but Suggs/Harris gives us no real ballhandler. Until trade or until Black is ready we are at the mercy of Fultz.

[MagicForLife]

Yeah unless Suggs suddenly becomes an average shooter, I could see him being benched for Harris sooner rather than later. This forum will have a complete meltdown though, lol. This is just a band-aid fix though.

I don’t see Cole starting as an option. He’s a bench guy. He signed a bench player deal. He’s good in his role - but he brings nothing to the table if his shot isn’t falling so he can’t be a starter.

Unless a trade is made the PG solution isn’t on this roster. Considering Franz is an average shooter, Paolo is below average shooter and Suggs is a below average shooter, The FO attaching this season’s hopes to a non-shooting PG is such a fail.

I'll have an aneurysm if we bench Suggs

Suggs is better than Fultz and should start over him but Suggs/Harris gives us no real ballhandler. Until trade or until Black is ready we are at the mercy of Fultz.

Magic should have Suggs, Harris, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell start. Suggs just need to be able to dribble the ball to half court. Franz and Paolo can then take over as point forwards. Hate to say it as I've been a Fultz fan, but he doesn't work on this team w/ the other players we have. The Magic need to treat Paolo like Lebron and surround him w/ shooters so he can be effective.

If the Magic can trade Fultz + denver's 1st for Brogdon or Buddy Hield, they should do it. Either can then start instead of Harris.

[G-Heel]

I'll have an aneurysm if we bench Suggs

Suggs is better than Fultz and should start over him but Suggs/Harris gives us no real ballhandler. Until trade or until Black is ready we are at the mercy of Fultz.

Magic should have Suggs, Harris, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell start. Suggs just need to be able to dribble the ball to half court. Franz and Paolo can then take over as point forwards. Hate to say it as I've been a Fultz fan, but he doesn't work on this team w/ the other players we have. The Magic need to treat Paolo like Lebron and surround him w/ shooters so he can be effective.

If the Magic can trade Fultz + denver's 1st for Brogdon or Buddy Hield, they should do it. Either can then start instead of Harris.

We need to replace Fultz in the starting lineup but not by letting Suggs play point. We saw how that worked out last year. PG isn't just bringing the ball up half court. They have to set their teammates up, recognize mismatches, and able to handle full court press. Suggs isn't the answer for those and Franz and Paolo aren't good enough playmakers, yet, to negate that. Hopefully down the road things will change, but for now, starting Suggs at PG is just asking to lose.

[dsg2021]

I would do Suggs, Harris, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell as well. Suggs does the grunt work of bringing it up the floor sometimes and that's about it. We are a 35 win team right now, so let me develop Paolo and Franz as half-court point forwards. Our best version is a passing style team down the road, 1-5 imho. But we need to make sure our two hopeful stars actually develop through fire and reach, well, star level impact and gravity on the court.

[rusoopE]

Last year, we were putting him in a position to score. Running plays for him, and making sure he scores 20ppg last year. We would sit him right after he scores 20 etc.

You mean we Tyreke Evan-ed his ROY ? (jk ofc)

We were 16-26 in games when Paolo shot more than 15 FGA.

Lot of Paolo's offense were empty calories.
In only 21 out of 72 games, 6'10- 250 pounds PF , who doesn't shoot many threes- menaged to have FG% above 50%.

In 36 out of 72 games his FG% was below 44%.
In 27 out of 72 games his FG% was below 40%
in 17 out of 72 games his FG% was below 35%


Paolo in general has to learn how to be more effective , and not just average bunch of points on sheer volumen and ability to draw fouls.

Imo, Franz and Paolo are biggest victims of Fultz- Suggs experiment. Harris didn't do anything special, but he made sure one person has to pay attention to him, not Franz nor Paolo. Addition of Suggs in SL gives team more edge on defense ,but also trashes our offense and so far seems to be massive problem for our two best players, who are left with some awkward jumpshots to take as defense only focuses on them. Franz takes near 8 three point shots a game. He is average shooter, he has no business taking 8 threes a game. But he has to, because who else will ? Suggs and his career sub 30% or Fultz who refuses to shoot? Wendell? Jaiks.

Suggs can only function next to a volume shooting/scoring PG. Fultz can only function next to a volume shooting/scoring SG….something has to give. That something is obvious to me. Get Simons while he’s out injured, before he comes back and scores 25 ppg of empty stats and stop pretending there’s any hope for miracles. Park him in the film room, get him relocated and comfortable and let’s stop the foolishness. Paolo will become an all-star quickly with air support to clear space for him and finish his kick-outs.

This this this

[Skybox]

I would do Suggs, Harris, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell as well. Suggs does the grunt work of bringing it up the floor sometimes and that's about it. We are a 35 win team right now, so let me develop Paolo and Franz as half-court point forwards. Our best version is a passing style team down the road, 1-5 imho. But we need to make sure our two hopeful stars actually develop through fire and reach, well, star level impact and gravity on the court.

I have concerns with Suggs as primary ball handler...but I'd try this.

I'd mostly be looking for a trade. If Suggs can manage...I'll even say Franz & Suggs sharing the responsibility among the starters...Franz did just fine for the first half of his rookie year as the primary ball handler...Not forever, not every minute he's on the court, but he's capable of pitching in. If somehow, Suggs emerges as enough...the trade targets are broader as we could basically be looking for shooting and scoring. Harris and Jett might even grab and hold the job. I think Jett's got something to show us.

I'd be talking to POR about Simons while he's rehabbing...can't hurt and, IMO, they aren't banking on him being the next CJ with the new Dame. They want Shaedon at SG next to Scoot.

[djguevara114]

Watching Sharpe tonight for Portland absolutely makes me think trading back and drafting him should have been the move…

[Darth Magic]

For the record, I didn't want Banchero. Not because I didn't think he could play but I didn't think he was a winning player. I believed he would be an empty stats guy who makes all-star games but his team would be mid. Secondly, it is incredibly difficult to create a championship team when your best player is a high-scoring power forward who is not a great defender, rebounder, or shot blocker. I didn't see a clear number one in the 2022 draft but I was interested in Chet, Ivey, and Sharpe. I thought Jabari Smith was a role-playing glue guy and not a number 1 pick. I don't believe in the fit with Paolo and Wendell up front. I said it before and I'll say it again, I would trade Paolo TODAY for the right package. BUT, if we do keep him, you have to give him the best chance to win by pairing him with players that complement him. That means shooters/defenders in the backcourt and a shot-blocking, rebounding rim running center. We've done neither.

[Orlando Dawg]

Paulo Banchero is like teenage Superman discovering his powers

[Rainwater]

Watching Sharpe tonight for Portland absolutely makes me think trading back and drafting him should have been the move…

You are looking at this in hindsight. Sharpe was an unknown, Magic were not going to trade back.

[KillMonger]

man some of this stuff is hilarious....this all it takes to turn on our 2nd year player after game 4 of 82? we gave AG 7 seasons and some of us are like "i'd trade banchero today".....foh

[pepe1991]

I today had to ask myself: How did i become former ROY biggest apologist

But no, you simply can't blame Banchero for shortcommings if you put 3 bad shooters around him.

Why Westbrook- Lebron- Davis didn't work despite fact team had 3 HOFers? Well, Spacing isn't city in Turkey, spacing is something that is required to have geometry of offense.

[Skybox]

For the record, I didn't want Banchero. Not because I didn't think he could play but I didn't think he was a winning player. I believed he would be an empty stats guy who makes all-star games but his team would be mid. Secondly, it is incredibly difficult to create a championship team when your best player is a high-scoring power forward who is not a great defender, rebounder, or shot blocker. I didn't see a clear number one in the 2022 draft but I was interested in Chet, Ivey, and Sharpe. I thought Jabari Smith was a role-playing glue guy and not a number 1 pick. I don't believe in the fit with Paolo and Wendell up front. I said it before and I'll say it again, I would trade Paolo TODAY for the right package. BUT, if we do keep him, you have to give him the best chance to win by pairing him with players that complement him. That means shooters/defenders in the backcourt and a shot-blocking, rebounding rim running center. We've done neither.

Paolo is really good (potentially elite) at what he’s good at…that might be bad news for WCJ as his frontcourt mate for the reasons you mentioned. Doesn’t matter who was here first or what’s fair or who’s a nice guy.

Same story with Suggs and Fultz. They both require a backcourt partner who can shoot…a LOT. To me, that’s bad news for Fultz, because Suggs is a potentially elite defender and Fultz is not elite at anything.

Fit is EVERYTHING. ORL is really lucky that their best player, Franz, can fit and adapt with anyone worthy.

[KillMonger]

Not exactly wide open spaces for paolo....i mean he has to be better and he has to make shots but man....we're not making it easy for the kid....one thing i'm wondering now in hindsight is why didn't mose experiment just a bit more with with different lineups in the preseason....didn't get to see jett or AB play with the starters.....maybe Cole/Jett/Houstan/Franz/Paolo....Fultz/Gary/Franz/Paolo/JI....Cole/Suggs/AB/Moe/Goga.....never got to see it.....there's interesting lineups that i would've been interested in just seeing it live....

[Skybox]

Not exactly wide open spaces for paolo....i mean he has to be better and he has to make shots but man....we're not making it easy for the kid....one thing i'm wondering now in hindsight is why didn't mose experiment just a bit more with with different lineups in the preseason....didn't get to see jett or AB play with the starters.....maybe Cole/Jett/Houstan/Franz/Paolo....Fultz/Gary/Franz/Paolo/JI....Cole/Suggs/AB/Moe/Goga.....never got to see it.....there's interesting lineups that i would've been interested in just seeing it live....

I think we got a pretty good idea last year of what Paolo is and what he projects to be...It's borderline exec malpractice that all we did last summer was add Ingles. Ingles makes a lot of sense because he's all about shooting 3's, moving the ball, and generally heady vet play...he's also old and beat up. I think he'll contribute, but he's at the stage where his decline could be overnight, at any point. This will likely be his last team. Maybe, maybe not...I do like him. It's pretty obvious that floor spreading was and is exactly what we lack and the way teams are defending Paolo (in gangs) is clear evidence that the whole world saw it, even if our FO didn't. This "patient internal development" garbage has limits. We didn't have to dump our starters (I would have) but we could have added that element to a greater degree-even just as a short-term experiment while we look for our long-term guys with the same or better skill set. There are plenty of vets that can hit open 3's all night...they are generally limited in other ways, overpaid, and not starter quality...but we could have added a few more Gary Harris-types to help find our ultimate use of Paolo. I'm not crazy about Buddy Hield or Kennard or Huerter, etc as long-term championship solutions...but right now, Gary Harris might be our best guard even though he was basically an expiring salary matching contract in the AG trade. We didn't trade to get Gary Harris but he's almost exactly what we need. Almost. (I'm not pitching a long-term commitment to Gary Harris, I'm lamenting that he hasn't been outplayed by anyone in 4 years- in his role)

Sad to watch. At least play Jett...he's, at worst, a much less expensive version of the limited snipers I listed and he might actually have a lot more in his bag than them.

[pepe1991]

Not exactly wide open spaces for paolo....i mean he has to be better and he has to make shots but man....we're not making it easy for the kid....one thing i'm wondering now in hindsight is why didn't mose experiment just a bit more with with different lineups in the preseason....didn't get to see jett or AB play with the starters.....maybe Cole/Jett/Houstan/Franz/Paolo....Fultz/Gary/Franz/Paolo/JI....Cole/Suggs/AB/Moe/Goga.....never got to see it.....there's interesting lineups that i would've been interested in just seeing it live....

Now compare how open floor is when non shooters are replaced with better personell



Instad of 4 men defending post up, Franz only has to pay attention to George, if somebody overcommits to help defense- bang-open 3.

[Skybox]

Not exactly wide open spaces for paolo....i mean he has to be better and he has to make shots but man....we're not making it easy for the kid....one thing i'm wondering now in hindsight is why didn't mose experiment just a bit more with with different lineups in the preseason....didn't get to see jett or AB play with the starters.....maybe Cole/Jett/Houstan/Franz/Paolo....Fultz/Gary/Franz/Paolo/JI....Cole/Suggs/AB/Moe/Goga.....never got to see it.....there's interesting lineups that i would've been interested in just seeing it live....

Now compare how open floor is when non shooters are replaced with better personell



Instad of 4 men defending post up, Franz only has to pay attention to George, if somebody overcommits to help defense- bang-open 3.

The truth is GLARING...and those aren't even really good shooters, just not terrible

[RichCollab]

Paolo with 1.8 steals a game is nice.

[zaymon]

Mosley is not giving Banchero any favours. He the most minutes next to Fultz and WCJ who are both scared to shoot right now. You would think perfect partner is Ingles but nope only 7 minutes together.
As much as i like Mosley and his positive energy i would think about changing coach next year.

[SOUL]

Mosley is not giving Banchero any favours. He the most minutes next to Fultz and WCJ who are both scared to shoot right now. You would think perfect partner is Ingles but nope only 7 minutes together.
As much as i like Mosley and his positive energy i would think about changing coach next year.

Ingles is the most scared to shoot of everybody... shooting 1.7 attempts a game.

I won't address coach thing I've spoken on it before. Let's not repeat past 10 years of changing coaches and then realizing "Oh, roster just sucked no matter who the coach is" when people don't like rotations. I look at every reddit or message board after teams lose.. saw OKC coach (Mark something), Carlisle, Monty Williams tonight all get called out for "trash rotation" or "not playing rookies" or "losing the game" and every fanbase thinks coaching is just some "find guy who yells a lot because that means they care more" and voila, rotation and shooting is fixed. Kerr looked hopeless the year Curry was out but looks like an offensive wizard when he's there.

Roster isn't doing him favors - two vets on expiring contracts who probably don't have a future here but probably need to play because of spacing, 2 rookies in an already crowded young rotation, Suggs who is playing his ass off and a huge part of us being a great defense, and Fultz, who has glaring weaknesses in shooting and FT but isn't a sieve on defense like Cole who isn't a natural PG and Suggs can't exactly dribble.

If season's hope rest on Gary Harris starting or not, we're more **** than anyone imagined... people need to be patient with 2nd year Paolo but also hold him accountable too. He made good plays when he was doubled, especially the first game, didn't mind him being less aggressive there.. but since then.. yuck.

If he can't hit OPEN jumpers or three or free throws, you can't blame the coach or others for that.. suddenly he is not doing his job as a proclaimed three level scorer. I saw him brick open shots and easy close to the basket plays and it''s not like he was getting swarmed by defenders and taking Doncic level contested threes and no easy baskets.

No young star has a perfectly built team around them in their first few years. Scottie Barnes has awkward fits on the team, OKC fans are begging for Chet to play next to a bruiser, Cade has spacing issues with Ausar/Killian/Duren.. Wemby has guys that don't know how to feed him easy buckets yet..

I'm pro young players more than anyone on this team, but damn sure not going to coddle them and make excuses when they play worse than I've seen them play and point at everything else. It starts with Paolo and Franz, even if there are small things to make them do better in the most optimal settings.

He needs to play better in spite of not an ideal backcourt yet.