Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero was once thought to be a carbon copy of Carmelo Anthony.
Anthony, though beloved in his heyday, was seen as an elite scorer but a mediocre playmaker. Indeed, among the reasons that Anthony’s tenure with the New York Knicks came to such an unsavory end was the team’s dissatisfaction with his ball-movement.
However, Banchero can lay those comparisons to bed now. Even at Duke, he had shown himself to be a complete player that didn’t force the issue. His decision to let the game come to him was seen as passiveness. Instead, it was a team-oriented approach.
Now in the NBA, his patience and willingness to pass have come to be appreciated.
Paolo Banchero Praised After Another Triple-Double Effort
On Thursday, Banchero recorded the second triple-double of this season and his career, finishing the Magic’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans with 20 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. No other player in the 2022 NBA Draft class has even one, including Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams.
As he spoke about Banchero’s accomplishment, Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley had high praise for the 21-year-old:
“Teams are loading up on him, defending him in different ways,” Mosley says “…He’s making the right play, the right pass, not forcing the game.”
At halftime vs. New Orleans, Paolo Banchero had 4 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. The #Magic forward ended up with 20, 10 and 11 for his 2nd career triple-double.
“That’s growth of a young man but it’s also what an All-Star does,” Jamahl Mosley said.
Full remarks: pic.twitter.com/3obGnBL7vs
— Jason Beede (@therealBeede) March 22, 2024
“Then in the second half, and this is what we’ve said from the beginning about him, he reads what the defense is doing,” Mosley continues, lauding Banchero’s awareness and IQ. “He adjusts as the game is going on and then he finds his time to pick, time to attack.”
“That’s growth of a young man,” Mosley considers, “but it’s also what an All-Star does, it’s what great players do. They adjust as he sees what the teams are doing and they thrive after that.”
Playing Off Paolo
Franz Wagner mentioned he feels “we’ve been doing a really good job kinda learning how to play off” the doubles Paolo Banchero draws on a game-to-game basis:
“On offense we try to move the ball. Obviously, with Paolo [Banchero] he’s drawing a lot of attention on the floor” pic.twitter.com/OVRAX0mhlS
— Fawzan Amer (@FawzanAmer_) March 18, 2024
At the beginning of the week, Magic forward Franz Wagner spoke about the team’s ability to play off of Banchero. Since at least last season, he’s discussed the team’s desire to play off of each other. This mirrors Mosley’s emphasis on pace and ball-movement.
On Monday, Wagner said the team has “been doing a really good job kind of learning how to play of Banchero.”
Banchero has dished out at least 20 assists to eight separate teammates this season. Most of these (75) have gone to Wagner. Wagner, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, is averaging a career-high 19.9 points per game.
