How a skinnier Paolo Banchero affects the Orlando Magic

There is no way around the reality that the Orlando Magic’s best players were not good enough after blowing a 3-1 lead to the Detroit Pistons in round one. Aside from new coach Sean Sweeney, they’ve been mostly out of sight, out of mind as the public is being treated to a great NBA Finals, yet important figures are quietly working behind the scenes to atone next year.

The most important of them is Paolo Banchero.

There’s a few things that’ll excite a fan base in the off-season like seeing one of their beloved players in the lab. Recently, Banchero was spotted at a gym, looking slimmer as he continues his offseason training. If this new look is permanent, it will affect his game.

Paolo has lived in the gym this offseason…

Looks noticeably slim and brought the fro back 👀 pic.twitter.com/gS4t0BAvmj
— 𝐁𝐱𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨 (@Bxnchero) June 5, 2026

A positive could be a leaner Banchero possibly being able to play longer stretches while exerting greater energy on defense. He’s averaged 38.5 playoff minutes per game in his career, which is not low but not high either. The price of being a star player means sometimes they have to log 45 minutes or the whole game, and come to the rescue the same way the Terminator said, “Come with me if you want to live.”

While it helped Nikola Jokić considerably when he showed up skinny for the Orlando bubble in 2020, he later became the best version being a bit heavier, but not as much as he is now. Still, perhaps they could have won with the skinnier Jokić if the bench was stronger.

LeBron James went for the skinny look, and he didn’t like how that affected his power game in his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He got back to being himself when he recovered his strength.

In Banchero’s case, if he is going to sacrifice some of the edge he has playing bully-ball, then he must become a better-than-average pull-up shooter. He was pretty good off the catch, making 39.2 percent on a low volume (1.7), but his accuracy dropped to 22.3 percent on the move (1.9).

One negative of this experiment could be him losing his effectiveness at close range while doing nothing to compensate for it offensively. Even if he stayed at last year’s weight, it would be necessary to improve his deep shooting, yet he could make up for some of the bad nights by getting to the line. There’s a possibility the leaner version doesn’t overpower defenders as often to draw as many fouls.

Rebounding is a lot about timing, but a big man being too skinny can hurt his ability to snatch rebounds as well. Banchero has been a good rebounder and had a career high (8.4) in 2025-26. To be that player that takes the Magic to the promised land, he can’t ever take a step back in this department.

Banchero could be in chill-mode right now, washing away the bad memories of how the season ended, but he wants more for himself. Next year will be his fifth in the NBA and by June of 2027, the public will have a better idea about the chances of him becoming Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard’s true successor.

In the meantime, no one will have a good reading on how his training has impacted his game until next season.

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