The Orlando Magic may not compete for any NBA championships within the next few years, but they’ve gathered a ton of intriguing young talent in recent years, including Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr, and Cole Anthony, with Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz, Mo Bamba, and Jonathan Isaac lurking in the background.
With Paolo Banchero now in the fold too, the Magic could be laying the foundation for something interesting.
The Rookie Class
Paolo Banchero (Forward | No #1 overall)
Powerful shot-creating power forward, with serious passing chops.
Caleb Houston (Wing | No. #32 overall)
Versatile shooter, who seems content being used off-ball.
Roles and Opportunities
The Magic have a lot of young players in need of minutes, which makes a large minutes devotion to Houston challenging unless someone goes down.
For Banchero, however, he slides immediately next to Carter Jr up front, with Orlando rolling out those two and Wagner in their front-line, which might be the most intriguing young front-line trio in the NBA.
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Banchero will get the ball in his hands a ton, as he’ll be asked to set up players around him, as well as himself, early and often. Fortunately for him, Carter Jr. is also an adept playmaker at the center spot, who should be able to create good looks for the rookie. The big-to-big passing element should be a huge area of focus for the Magic this season.
Additionally, Banchero will benefit from having such an aggressive scorer in Wagner next to him. Wagner can get to the cup, and stretch the floor from the outside, thus creating more space for Banchero to operate. If Suggs and Anthony up their efficiency (which is much needed for both), the rookie could find himself in an optimal situation moving forward.
Houston is an uncertainty in regards to minutes, but given that nearly 60% of his shot attempts at Michigan were three-pointers, he does fill a need. Houston is playing with a ton of shot-creators, most of whom can get into the teeth of the defense. This is where he stands to benefit, as he can let his man cheat, and move into an open three after the kick-out.
For Houston to really make a name for himself with the Magic, he’ll need to prove he can consistently make the right decision when defenders close out hard. That means either getting the ball out of his hands quickly via a shot or pass, or it means putting the ball on the floor and driving in for a closer shot.
Projections
Banchero isn’t going to a team that’s dying from having too many major needs. That can be both good and bad, in the sense that he won’t have to force the issue, but he’ll also not likely get to put up huge raw box score numbers every night.
Due to the talent level on the Magic already, Banchero will likely slot as a bit of a jack of all trades type player, who gets to test out his vast multitude of skills. He’ll likely have a lot of different types of nights, where he rotates between being a scorer, a facilitator, or a rebounder.
Of course, there will be nights when he puts all of that together, and will grab some headlines. He seems likely to gather at least a few triple-doubles over the course of 82 games, but the Magic will surely look at his consistency level more than anything.
As for Houston, it’s all about minutes. He just needs to stay ready, even for smaller assignments, and make himself useful as a scorer, while working his back off defensively.
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