The news hit like a ton of bricks Thursday evening.
Paolo Banchero is out indefinitely with a torn right oblique. The team will re-evaluate him in 4-6 weeks. Meaning we will not even really hear much about Banchero until the beginning of December. The best hope is that Banchero will be back on the floor around Christmas.
That is the cold reality. The Magic are looking at a minimum of 16 games before they get an update on Banchero and very likely two months without their superstar on the floor.
The question then is what happens next? Is the season really over?
The answer to that should be unequivocal: No. The Magic still should expect to make the Playoffs.
The team’s goals do not end just because Banchero is out of the lineup. They become harder to achieve and the margin for error decreases, but the end goal does not change. And the Magic have all the tools to stay in the Playoff race.
Orlando’s identity starts with its defense. And while Paolo Banchero has taken some major steps as a defender, he is still one of the weaker links in the chain.
Jamahl Mosley was more upset following Wednesday’s game with his team’s defensive effort in the second and third quarters than the offensive futility in the fourth quarter (undoubtedly partly caused by Banchero’s injury now that we have that context).
The team leans on its defense. And the Magic should still have one of the best defenses in the league. That will not go away.
The change will come on offense. Orlando will need to rely on more movement and have players like Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs take on more playmaking and creating. They will have to be the engines for this team.
For Wagner, he has taken on that role at various times but never for an extended period. Banchero has been extremely durable in his first two seasons. All the attention will be on him now.
The same will be for Suggs. He was given a bigger role as a playmaker and has improved dramatically as a shooter. Now he has to take on the same role he had in his first year as an attacker. Some of those guardrails will come off.
Ultimately, this period without Banchero will force a lot of these players to grow and take on new roles. It will push them out of their comfort zone and force them to improve or tell the Magic their limits.
That will be valuable when Banchero returns. The team must get better.
But they also need to win. They need to keep pace and keep the ship steady.
It is not without precedent.
Joel Embiid missed 31 games last year and his Sixers went 11-20, but he returned and the Sixers rallied to win 47 games – the same as the Magic. In the process, Philadelphia saw Tyrese Maxey emerge as a star.
Embiid is a far more established star than Banchero. But if Orlando can stay in the Playoff picture when Banchero returns, the team has plenty of time to make a push up the standings.
The question is whether the Magic can win. With the talent on the roster they absolutely can. The season is far from over.
