Magic keep up winning ways without Paolo Banchero

The Magic may need to rethink their offense

Banchero is a great young scorer, but he's limited as a No. 1 option. He's shooting only 25 percent from three-point range this season, and his assists have declined from 5.4 to 4.8 to 4.1 in the last three seasons. Banchero is great at getting to the foul line, but the nature of his game — heavy on two-pointers, low on assists — puts a ceiling on the Magic's offense when he is the focal point.

Now, the Magic are seeing more playmaking from their guard combo of Bane and Jalen Suggs, who are delivering 11 assists combined per game. Black has been thriving with more opportunities to shoot, while third-year guard Jett Howard is delivering instant offense off the bench — 10.3 PPG in 15 minutes since Banchero's injury. Second-year forward Tristan da Silva has been a solid starter, knocking down over 40 percent of his threes on the season.

This is not to say that Banchero is a bad player, or isn't missed. But when a team selects a player at No. 1, like the Magic did with Banchero in 2022, it's tempting to orient the team around them — especially when he led the team back to the playoffs. But now that Orlando has added so much more offensive talent around Banchero, it might be time to make him more of a finisher than a ball-dominant creator.

The Magic are thriving without their most famous player. When he gets back from his injury, it's time for the team and Banchero to take a hard look at how well the offense has run in his absence, and let their star adjust to his teammates, not the other way around.