Banchero finding his magic in Orlando

Paolo Banchero notches 50 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in a comeback win over the Indiana Pacers. 
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The Orlando Magic were coming off a 22-60 record when they won the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery. With Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vučević traded away the season prior, the Magic began a new era. Winning the No. 1 pick in the draft presented the perfect opportunity to select a new face to propel their future forward. 
Enter, Paolo Banchero. After one year at Duke, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound power forward was a top prospect in 2022. His combination of size, strength, agility and playmaking ability made him the obvious choice for the first pick of the 2022 Draft.
It was clear early that the Magic didn’t make a mistake with their choice. Banchero scored 27 points, dished five dime and grabbed nine rebounds in his NBA debut, and went on to score 20-plus points in his first six NBA contests. He won the 2023 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year voting in a landslide after averaging 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists while helping to boost Orlando’s win total to 34, a 12-win increase from the previous season. 
Banchero took his game to the next level in his second season, earning an All-Star reserve spot for the 2024 Eastern Conference squad. Banchero saw improvements accross the board, boosting his field-goal percentage from 42.7% to 45.5% and his 3-point percentage from 29.8% to 33.9%. Banchero’s sophomore campaign helped the the Magic finish their 2023-24 season with a 47-35 record, earning a playoff berth as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. 
When the stars shined the brightest, Banchero still stood out amongst them. Despite ultimately falling in seven games to the Cavaliers in the first round, the second-year man proved he had the moxie to excel in a playoff atmosphere. Banchero was the game’s leading scorer twice in the series, going toe-to-toe with Donovan Mitchell, scoring 31 points in a Game 3 win and 39 points in a pivotal Game 5 loss. In Game 7, where stars are made, he didn’t fold or buckle, posting 38 points and 16 rebounds. Loss aside, it was clear Banchero had the makeup of an NBA superstar. 
Entering his third year in the league with the highest expectations on his shoulders yet, the soon-to-be 22-year-old has responded resoundingly. An opening night 33-point, 11-rebound effort led to a convincing win over in-state rival Miami. Three games later against the Pacers, Banchero had the best game of his young career so far and one of the most elite performances in Magic history. A 37-point first-half performance tied Tracy McGrady’s team record, and his total 50-piece tied him for the fifth-highest output in team history. He also became just the second player in NBA history to record 50 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists in a game before turning 22. 
Banchero followed up his historic performance with his third 30-plus-point game of the season, notching 31 points against the Bulls on Wednesday night while snatching seven rounds and dishing out four assists. 
The 2024-25 NBA season is just getting started but after delivering clear improvements from Year One to Year Two, and at the helm of a franchise that is surging up the ranks of the NBA’s best teams, Banchero finds himself at the precipice of stardom. His red-hot start to the season is proving he belongs among the league’s upper echelon of players and is not just an All-Star, but a superstar performing magic in Orlando.