The Orlando Magic believed this could be their season to take a leap. With Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton suffering major injuries, there was a potential for another team to join the fray in the Eastern Conference.
However, for a majority of the season, they haven’t taken that jump forward. A lot of the blame has fallen on their former first overall pick, Paolo Banchero, who was having a wildly disappointing year. But after missing out on an All-Star nod, he’s turning things around.
Paolo Banchero Explains the Turnaround
Taken first overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, Banchero was an immediate 20-point-per-game scorer for the Magic. However, what fuelled him as an even better player than the numbers was the impact he had on the team as a whole.
Making them a playoff team almost immediately, he continued improving, becoming a consistent All-Star caliber player, eclipsing 25 ppg last season. As a result, the Magic made the blockbuster move to add Desmond Bane to the roster in an effort to improve their spacing.
But the slow start fed into a disappointing feeling around the organization as a whole, and Banchero’s numbers suffered heavily, too. Dropping in points significantly from last season (22.3 vs. 25.9), he wasn’t playing like the number one option for Orlando.
He didn’t earn an All-Star nod. But, rather than take it as a slight, he took it as a learning opportunity for himself. Speaking to andscape, he revealed the mindset he’s adopted since taking a vacation during the festive weekend.
“I’m always honest with myself. I looked in the mirror first. Over the All-Star break, I watched a lot of film over the early part of the season. I just wasn’t happy with what I put out. Some of that had to do with me being injured and coming back.” But since his return, the results have been hard to deny.
Banchero has averaged 26.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 10 games while shooting a sublime 50.8% from the field after the All-Star break. One of four players to be averaging 25, 5, 5 in that span, he’s also consistently taking on the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player.
All of it, though, has fed into the mindset he’s cultivating.”I could’ve had a better mindset, and that was part of it. But I know I’m an All-Star in this league. My confidence is still the same.” Using that confidence, he claimed he challenged himself to be better after the break.
“It’s about being honest with yourself and realizing that you didn’t really deserve to be an All-Star, honestly. It’s about taking that with a grain of salt and being better in the second half of the season.”
He may have gotten the push from himself and steady tape studying, but the results are clear as day to see, and in a wide-open race for the Eastern Conference, the Magic could be peaking at just the right time.
