Can Orlando Magic Build Around Paolo Banchero? Former NBA Vets Weigh In
ORLANDO - A career night from Paolo Banchero wasn't enough for the Orlando Magic in a 121-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The 2022 No. 1 overall pick scored a career-high 42 points and added six rebounds and an assist. Not only was the most prolific offensive performance of Banchero's career not enough for the Magic (14-7) to avoid their second-straight loss, it wasn't enough to convince former NBA veterans Danny Green and Lou Williams that they could build around the reigning rookie of the year.
Green and Williams each gave their opinion on Banchero on FanDuel's show Run It Back and were in unison, saying that they still want to see more from him.
"I have not seen enough," Green said. "I think he's good, but he hasn't proven to me that he should be the guy. They have a lot of good pieces around him though. I think he just needs more consistency but he's playing well. He's also had some games where he didn't play as well as we expected him to."
Paolo Banchero is averaging 29.67 points per game in the Magic's last three games.
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Green played 14 years in the NBA for six different teams. He won three NBA championships and made the All-Defensive Team in 2016-17. Williams played 17 years in the NBA and was a three-time sixth man of the year.
Banchero's numbers through the first 21 games of this season are nearly identical to his rookie year. This year, he's averaging 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, compared to his rookie season when he averaged 20 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
After a slow start to the season, Banchero has scored at least 20 points in 11 of Orlando's last 17 games. He didn't score more than 15 points through the Magic's first four games.
"Just haven't seen enough of it," Williams said. "Still a very young guy having some success, but this is a longevity game. This is a [consistency] game. Once we see that consistently, I'll give him that. But right now, we haven't seen enough."
With more nights like the one he had against Cleveland (12-9), it may not be long before former players believe Banchero is capable of being the guy Orlando can build around for the foreseeable future.
Orlando will look to get back into the win column on Friday when they host the Detroit Pistons (2-19) at the Amway Center at 7 p.m. ET.
