Paolo Banchero's POTW Nomination Further Shows He's Back to All-Star Form

Paolo Banchero was nominated for East Player of the Week on Monday. Despite not winning the honor, the Orlando Magic star forward is firmly back where he belongs for both now and future – in the conversation for the best players in the league.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) shoots a three point shot against the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter at Kia Center. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

On Monday, for the first time this season, Paolo Banchero was nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

For games played between March 3-9, Banchero averaged 30.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from three. Orlando went 1-2, with losses to the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls preceding a win Saturday night in Milwaukee.

Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks won the award.

But for Banchero, the nomination is further vindication that the All-Star form is back near the peak of his capabilities.

Orlando's No. 1 selection in the 2022 Draft struggled to get his legs back under him after returning from a torn right oblique, and understandably so. He missed 34 games with the injury – a stint that spanned 10 weeks.

The first four of those weeks involved no movement whatsoever. With the affected muscle being in his core, the time off his feet was a requirement to fully heal. After that, he needed time and reps to regain the strength and power his 6-10, 250-pound frame afford him, then further conditioning just to get back on the court.

Sailing wasn't immediately smooth upon working back onto the floor. In the 17 games between his 34-point return and the All-Star break, Banchero averaged just 20.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting only 40.6 percent from the floor and 28.9 percent from three. Before jetting off for his time away, the forward said he desired to use the time to recharge and get back into "elite shape."

Judging by the nine games since the break, he's done just that. While Orlando has gone just 3-6, Banchero is averaging 28.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 47.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three. He's gone for 41 points on two separate occasions since the team resumed play, following up from his first career 50-point outburst back in October prior to injury.

Following a 29-point showing in Saturday's victory over Milwaukee, Banchero was asked if he feels he's back to full, his pre-injury form.

"It's hard for me to say I'm all the way back," Banchero began, "but I 100 percent feel 10-times better than I did when I first came back. That was just my goal over the All-Star break. It gave me the opportunity to kind of settle down, but also work on my game and keep myself in shape, just relax my body and mind at the same time.

"I just wanted to come out [and] give everything I have for these last games after the break and into the postseason."

"I think his confidence just continues to rise," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Saturday. "I mean, you saw it in the big moments when he took the big shot, he wasn't afraid to make the big play, but then he wasn't trying to force it. There was times he was looking for Franz and putting him in situations."

Whatever heights the Magic can reach this year first falls on their shoulders. Without Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner the rest of the way – two players who are missed equally for their instigation and production – Orlando's got 17 regular season games left to make something of this season as the postseason nears.

With both Banchero and Franz Wagner back from injury, however, Orlando is back in a position where they have two players who can be the best on the floor any given night.

That will pay dividends – both this season and beyond.

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