Time is on my side, isn’t it…Time is on my side, isn’t it…
ORLANDO, Fla. — Mike Krzyzewski, as always, didn’t mince words.
“I was 18 when I was at Duke,” Paolo Banchero said Tuesday. “And I remember Coach K always using my voice to tell me to speak up because I’m the best player and person on the team. You can’t keep quiet. you can’t always Be quiet. After all, I’m a high IQ player so I see the game really well. “I’d be doing everyone a disservice if I didn’t talk about the game.”
Banchero and the Orlando Magic have progressed so quickly so far that it’s hard to remember that Krzyzewski was admonishing them just three years ago. At the time, Banchero was one of the last blue-chip players the Blue Devils had before Coach K retired. He coached at Duke for 42 seasons. So Banchero knows the pressure. Do you want to be a freshman and the best player on Mike Krzyzewski’s final team?
Duke advanced to the Final Four in 2022. However, the Blue Devils lost Coach K’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. To North Carolina. And they lost in the national semifinals at Caesars Superdome. To North Carolina.
Yes, Banchero and the Magic lost Game 7 of their first-round series in Cleveland last spring after leading the Cavaliers by 10 points at halftime. I was stabbed badly. But Banchero has felt it before. This summer, he worked to further improve his game and physicality to help make Orlando a top four team in the Eastern Conference this season. A top four finish means home-court advantage in the first round, meaning Game 7 of the first round will be played at the Kia Center rather than on the road.
“I don’t think there’s any area where you can say, ‘Here’s the next step,’” Jeff Weltman, Magic’s president of basketball operations, said of his star player.
“I feel like I continue to grow both on and off the court. And I think he really understands how he can use his abilities to capitalize on the game and make his teammates better. He has his own strengths that he would like to improve. I think he’ll be an excellent 3-point shooter. He will be the one to get to the line often while elevating his teammates.”
Banchero, now 21 years old, made his first All-Star team last season following a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2022-23. He became the youngest player in NBA history to lead his team in scoring, rebounds, and assists in a single season. The Magic followed his lead and won 47 games, just two seasons after going 22-60 last year. He continued to be a strong presence in the mid post, showing that he can draw fouls at a rapid pace even at a young age. (His seven free throw attempts per game were tied for 10th in the league last season, tied with Damian Lillard.) .
And in his first playoff series, Banchero stepped up his game. A mediocre 3-point shooter (32%) during his first two regular seasons, Banchero stepped up in the Cleveland series, shooting 40% (16 of 40) from 3-point range and showing more confidence than ever before. Already a high usage rate (29.2) in the regular season, his usage rate was even stronger (33.9) against the Cavs.
Banchero’s meteoric rise has helped center Orlando as a team with perhaps the highest ceiling in the league. Certainly, the East has a longer runway for a team with this much young talent over the next five to seven years.
Oklahoma City’s core is led by 26-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 22-year-old Chet Holmgren, 23-year-old Jalen Williams and 25-year-old Luguentz Dort. (Luguentz Dort) is currently included. Isaiah Hartenstein, 26, is as good or better than Orlando. But Magic forward Franz Wagner turned 23 in August, two months after guard Jalen Suggs. Guard Cole Anthony is 24 years old and center Wendell Carter Jr. is 25 years old. And forward Jonathan Isaac, who led the NBA in projected defensive plus-minus (4.1) last season, turned 27 on Thursday.
Orlando became a defensive powerhouse last season, ranking third in the league in defensive rating and using its length and defensive speed to stifle opposing offenses. The Magic’s offense has started off decently for the season. But in Game 6 against Cleveland, Banchero, Wagner and Suggs became just the third trio of players 22 or younger to score 20 or more points in the same playoff game. (The Thunder had two sets of players under the age of 22: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Durant, Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka, both during the 2011 postseason.)
But the Magic remain cool-headed about where they are.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Wagner said.
Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero are two standouts among Orlando’s young core. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today)
On the floor, Banchero continued his upward trend on offense last season, answering coach Jamahl Mosley’s challenge to make quicker decisions offensively and improve defensively. But there is still a lot of room for further development. Banchero ranks 102nd in the league in offensive plus-minus per Dunks & Threes. He needs to get better off the dribble and in the pick-and-roll.
Banchero spent most of the summer in his hometown of Seattle, where his personal trainer trained him, including several circuits up an incline known locally as “cardio attack hill.”
“What I realized in the playoffs is that you need to be in top, elite form to make a full run,” Banchero said. “After Game 7, I was completely exhausted. … It was in my head that Cleveland was going to play Boston in two days. If you feel this way (after the first round), how can you step away for another series? If you want to go all the way, can you take two or three more series? It was the whole summer that made me realize that I needed to get in better shape. I trained my body three to four days a week. Some days it was lifting, some days it was agility work, and some days it was conditioning. I’m trying to stay in top condition ahead of this season. And as the season goes on, I’ll try to stay consistent with my habits, and once we get to the playoffs, I’ll get a second wind.”
But the Magic also had to address their woeful shooting spree. He was only slightly better from behind the 3-point line last season (35.2%) than in 2022-23 (34.6%). Banchero, Wagner, Suggs and Anthony all did a good job going downhill, but none of them spaced the floor as a legitimate threat from deep.
From Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the three-time league MVP signed a three-year, $66 million contract with the Magic this summer.
The veteran wing has shot better than 38.5 percent from deep over the past five seasons against LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles and Jokic in Denver. With the Washington Wizards in 2021-22, Caldwell-Pope didn’t have as many strong teammates in the frontcourt, but he still made 39 percent of his 3-pointers. And Caldwell-Pope, 31, is exactly the kind of grizzled vet with two rings that Orlando needs to complement its young core. Veteran point guard Cory Joseph can similarly keep the Magic organized when Banchero is on the bench.
A banchero is a willing passerby. But now he has someone who can do damage when he pulls off double teams.
“Whenever I talk to Paolo, he talks about being in the post,” Caldwell-Pope said. “If you bring in two (defensemen), what do you see? I always told him, if you see a pass, you pass. If you get two, you’ve done your job. Now my man is open before me. I have to make that pass instead of making a bad decision to (dribble) through two. The more inconsistencies he has, the better he can become. … I told him that earlier while we were playing. If you see me in the corner during a transition, I will come over to set up the step-up (screen). It’s easy, it’s 101 right there. Or you can switch or show or whatever they do, you still have all those aspects and can do the job.”
Having Caldwell-Pope and Joseph on the court and in the locker room “I think makes us grow a little bit more with two older guys who were on championship teams,” Banchero said.
“The story of our team the first two years I was here was that we had a lot of guys who could make plays and get downhill, but not a lot of guys who could take shots from the perimeter and make the defense cost us. I think with KCP, the small window you have to drive through because your defenses are blocked, using KCP opens that window a little bit more. And if they want to keep blocking the windows, all they have to do is spray him. Then that person can easily break down.”
As a team, Orlando’s competitive window is wide open. But that can only happen if the Magic learn from Game 7 and move forward next time in similar situations.
“My office is right there,” Mosley said, pointing to the third floor of Orlando’s ultra-luxurious 100,000-square-foot practice facility Palace, a block from the Kia Center.
“We were down 68-71 in the third quarter,” he said. “Franz started to raise the ball and passed it to Markelle (Fultz). I was just watching it. alarm. You need to watch it to learn and really reflect. You should feel the sting (again). But I can’t play the harp. You have to learn from it. You say, ‘Yeah, that really sucks.’ We should have won. ‘One hundred percent.’ But we didn’t. So what do we do now? And the only way for it to be a great team is to get its cool.”
In order to improve internally this season, the younger players will also need to get used to feeling uncomfortable around each other. Not everything can come from Mosley, his staff, or Caldwell-Pope. Tough conversations during a long season are sometimes difficult. This is especially true for young and still maturing groups. But Banzero, who is seeking a rookie extension starting in 2026-27, and Wagner, who received $224 million in July, know they have to speak out as much as they watch the game.
“Honestly, that’s where we need to grow,” Wagner said. “We are not very extroverted and we are not the loudest people on the team. But at some point it will be required of us, especially of each other. We have a lot of respect for each other. We both really enjoy playing together. I think we have a good relationship. “I think it starts with having trust that when we hold each other accountable, the other person knows it’s coming from a good place.”
This is something Banchero has had to grow into as a pro. Even though he was trained by a coaching legend.
“In your first year, you don’t want to say too much because you’re not even sure if you’re doing the right thing,” Banchero said. “And I think I got a little better my sophomore year. But it went up and down. This year I want to be a very consistent voice for our team and group. When I see something, you just say it, whether it’s a player you play with, a coach, or whoever you’re talking to, it gives everyone a chance to take in what you said and adjust.
“Instead of you holding on to it, now the same thing goes on, you lose, you’re down 10, 12 points, whatever it is. I believe that just by being a consistent leader and a consistent voice, I can take us to the next level.”
(Top photo by Paolo Banchero: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
