'Chip on My Shoulder': Magic No. 1 Pick Paolo Banchero Sounds Off on Summer League
ORLANDO - Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero walked into Las Vegas Summer League with a target on his back. As the No. 1 pick, the entire draft class is looking to prove why people were wrong when the Magic took him with the top pick.
The No. 1 pick status is something Banchero doesn't take lightly.
"I'm going to get everybody's best shot," Banchero told ESPN's Malika Andrews. "But I'm going to give them my best shot as well."
“I have a chip on my shoulder … I just want to go out there and prove why I’m the No. 1 pick every game.”
Banchero still doesn't forget the fact that many critics ruled him out as a possibility for the top pick when the Magic won the draft lottery in favor of Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr.
But Banchero proved why the Magic made the choice they did in his limited Summer League run. Orlando went 2-0 in the games Banchero played in, and he looked like a man amongst boys while on the court.
Banchero averaged 20 points, five rebounds and six assists during the first two games of the Magic's Summer League run. The team opted to shut him down after the second game after he was seen limping in the aftermath of Saturday's win against the Sacramento Kings.
Now that Banchero's Summer League is over, he can turn his focus to getting into peak physical shape for training camp in September as he embarks on his first NBA season.
