The Orlando Magic walked into the 2025-26 NBA season with extremely high expectations. With both the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers suffering catastrophic injuries in last year’s playoffs, they wanted to seize control of the Eastern Conference.
An aggressive offseason followed. But they landed back in the same spot as last year, finishing in the Play-In tournament. However, after a brutal showing against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first Play-In game, their franchise star, Paolo Banchero, isn’t sure about their chances against the Charlotte Hornets either.
Paolo Banchero Sounds Wary of the Hornets
Trying to take a major step-up, the Magic pulled the trigger on a blockbuster offseason trade to bring in Desmond Bane. An attempt to fix their shooting woes from the previous two seasons, the move sounded ideal, at least in theory.
In practice, it hasn’t worked out quite as smoothly as Orlando may have anticipated. As a result, Bane shot the second-worst shooting percentage and attempts from 3-point range of his career at 39.1% and 5.2 attempts, respectively.
That fall coincided with an inconsistent season for the Magic, as they finished at 45 wins as the eight-seed in the East. A second consecutive trip to the Play-In awaited. But this time around, their showing was much worse.
Losing to a Sixers team that didn’t have Joel Embiid in the game was a major blow, as they managed just 97 points on the night. Banchero was a major reason for their struggles, as he put up just 18 points on 7 for 22 shooting, while also giving up 6 turnovers.
It marked back-to-back games where he missed 15 or more shots while giving up 5 or more turnovers. Unfortunately for fans in Orlando, his morale isn’t high about the second Play-In game either.
Speaking to reporters after the game, he admitted, “They’re playing really well. They’ve kicked out a** this year. So, we gotta be ready, I gotta be ready, and we gotta be locked in from the jump.”
“They’ve kicked our ass this year”
Paolo Banchero on playing the Hornets next game pic.twitter.com/1nOZIuUdRa
— Underdog (@Underdog) April 16, 2026
While he took a lot of the blame on himself, “It’s going to take me playing me better as well for us to take the win,” his performance has raised serious question marks around the franchise and where they currently stand.
In four games against the Hornets, the Magic went 1-3, losing by an average of 20.3 points. The turnaround from Charlotte that began midway through January landed them in the Play-In race, where they won a nailbiter against the Miami Heat in overtime.
Now, they are trying to make it to the playoffs officially for the first time in a decade, and their opponents are an Orlando squad that they’ve owned in the regular season. After a disappointing showcase against Philadelphia, it has put that franchise in a rather difficult position.
With fans clamoring for a head coaching change and the franchise’s cornerstone having an extremely rough outing, it has become a big challenge for the Magic to weave their way out of their current mess.
