The Orlando Magic were one of the league’s pleasant surprises last season. They finished as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Orlando took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a do-or-die seventh game in the opening round of the postseason where they were defeated.
During the offseason, the Magic signed free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Inserting him as the starting shooting guard gives Orlando a more potent starting five as the 2024-25 season has begun.
Now in his third season, Paolo Banchero is seen as the best player on the team. Selected first in the 2022 NBA Draft, Banchero was named an All-Star last season. Many expected further growth from the soon-to-be 22-year-old in the 2024-25 season.
The Magic won their regular season opener 116-97 over the Miami Heat. While it’s just one game, Banchero put together a magnificent showing.
Paolo Banchero Has Never-Before-Seen Stat Line Against Heat
Banchero Puts On A Show In The Regular Season Opener
Banchero’s final numbers from the victory were certainly impressive. He scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The most impressive number from his stat line? Banchero had a plus-minus of +42 in his 31 minutes played. The power forward also took care of the basketball as evidenced by his zero turnovers.
Put all his numbers together from the season opener, and he had a never-before-seen performance according to OptaSTATS.
Paolo Banchero of the @OrlandoMagic is the only NBA player to have a game with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, no turnovers and a plus-minus of +40 or better (since plus-minus was first tracked in 1996-97). pic.twitter.com/rXP9ysuIWD
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 24, 2024
Now as mentioned on the tweet, play-by-play data goes back to the 1996-97 season, so perhaps a player has put up those statistics in a year previous to that. Nonetheless, that’s still nearly three decades of data with Banchero the only one scoring at least 30, grabbing at least 10 boards, finishing with zero turnovers, and being at least a +40 on the floor.
Third Year Growth This Season For The Magic Forward?
Banchero’s career started off by being named the 2022-23 Rookie of the Year. He nearly won it unanimously, receiving 98 out of 100 first-place votes (Walker Kessler received the other two)
His second season culminated in being named an All-Star. In 2023-24, Banchero posted per game averages of 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. It was an impressive season for Banchero, and much of it came as a 21-year-old.
A third-year player often wins the Most Improved Player award. There are instances where that is the season when a player makes a jump from solid role player to star, or even from star to superstar. While Banchero had a superb sophomore season, there was still noticeable room for growth.
Banchero shot better in his second season when compared to his rookie year. Still, his final percentages could certainly improve. In 2023-24, he shot 45.5% from the field, 33.9% from beyond the arc, and 72.5% from the foul line. Banchero also averaged 3.1 turnovers per contest.
While saying Banchero has improved in these areas after one game would be an overreaction, he’s off to a good start. On Wednesday night, he shot 12-24 from the field, 4-8 from three-point land, and 5-6 from the charity stripe. As already mentioned, Banchero didn’t turn the ball over.
What will Banchero do as an encore? The Magic play again Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets.
