Paolo Banchero's Awesome Rookie Season Does Come With Notes

This year's NBA Rookie Of the Year award will almost assuredly go to Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, and rightly so.

The 20-year-old is netting 19.9 points, 6.6 boards, 3.6 assists, and getting to the line at a rate of 7.6 times per night. He's a physical powerhouse who is outright incredible at absorbing contact, especially when taking into account his young age and overall modest experience.

Banchero was drafted first overall by Orlando last year as just a single season at Duke.

And as per usual with new rookie stars, we all tend to get swept away in all the hoopla. Because why would we not? Adding yet another star to the NBA roster can never be a bad thing.

However, Banchero has areas where he could stand to improve, and it's crucial we don't gloss over those areas, while we're busy literally falling over ourselves to compliment his otherwise tremendous start to his career.

So let's get into some of the improvement areas for Banchero moving forward.

Shooting

Banchero is formidable at creating for himself off the dribble for someone 6-foot-10 and weighing in 250 pounds. Give him the ball near the foul line area, and Banchero will find a way to get himself to the rim, and manufacture a shot out of nothing.

Asking Banchero to simply shoot from range, though, is a different topic altogether. He's hitting below 40% outside of three feet, and connecting on just over 28% from behind the 3-point line.

Essentially, unless he's right near the basket, his efficiency drops off significantly. He's not a natural shooter quite yet, even if he's got upside in that area. He's hitting just 33.7% on jump shots this season, often looking far more comfortable going to the basket and playing downhill basketball, than identifying jumpers within the flow of a half-court set.

(Side note: It would behoove the Magic to speed up their offense next season, and get Banchero more out in the open floor as a decision maker. While he's still turning the ball over, good things happen when he's allowed to create.)

Rebounding

The Magic are a fairly average rebounding team, and you can't help but wonder why Banchero isn't more assertive on the glass given the combination of his strength, leaping ability, and instincts.

His 6.6 boards per game isn't necessarily a poor mark, but you get the sense he could do more. Wendell Carter Jr, Bol Bol and Mo Bamba (before his trade to Los Angeles) weren't exactly setting the world on fire, and both Bamba and Bol would not infrequently find themselves being boxed out by stronger players.

That excuse isn't there for Banchero, who now has to carry a larger responsibility on the glass after the Bamba trade.

I concede there's still chance for him to end the year on a high note on the glass, and Orlando is likely hoping for that too. But he'll have to be ready for it, and seek it out. The team stands to benefit if Banchero takes the ball off the rim and starts pushing the ball. By design, he should be far more involved on the defensive glass.

Defense

Banchero has upside on defense, and it's hardly fair to expect a rookie to be a difference maker on that end of the floor. Even so, effort and execution needs to get dialed up on the consistency scale.

He'll lose focus and drift away from the play by watching the ball as opposed to his own man (a sin 99.9% of all rookies have committed), and he'll often be forced to play catch-up defense because of it.

In fairness to Banchero, he didn't have much experience defending in this much space, and it shows. Smaller players will get to where they want to go with him, and the added spacing is an element where he'll need to optimize his own positioning, as to bridge the gap between allowing perimeter jumpers and interior shots.

It'll take some time, but I'm not too worried about Banchero's defense down the line. He's actively trying, and he looks noticeably invested in wanting to grow on that end of the floor. For him, this becomes a question of watching film and making adjustments on the fly.

Ultimately, Banchero looks every bit like a future star. Both Kevin Durant and LeBron also sported modest efficiency, and both outright struggled defensively in their first year. So let's give Banchero some time, while acknowledging he's not yet a finished product.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.