[Austin Rivers] weighs in on the Magic being better without Paolo Banchero, and whether they should look to trade him: “I need you to stop doing drugs, first and foremost. Cut it out. Stop using, stop abusing. You’re out of your fucking mind.”
i dont think theyre better without him or should trade him but they need a better gameplan for both him and franz
The reality is that if your 2 best players are both very inconsistent shooters, then you are going to struggle in today’s NBA, particulary if the rest of your team isn’t that good at shooting either. That’s why they traded the farm for Bane, they desperately needed shooting, but he’s been sort of in a slump so far. Suggs is also an inconsistent shooter. Wendell Carter has probably been their most consistent shooter this season and that says a lot. Paolo and Franz could work, but for that they’d need 3 above average shooters besides them, imo.
They are 7-3 in their last 10 and 10-2 this season when Suggs plays.
The roster seems fine. It likely needs small tweaks rather than major surgery.
Yeah for real. I feel like you need Franz, Suggs and Paolo on the court for 30 games healthy before you can decide if it works
Because his numbers don’t pop I don’t think most non Magic fans realize how important Suggs is to our team, we look significantly worse whenever he is out of the line up
I mean that’s a problem of its own. Top tier franchise players make teams better in almost any context and then push even higher with ideal teammates.
What ceiling does the Magic currently imagine with Banchero and Franz? Because it seems to me that as time goes on they’re looking to be ‘just’ be really good players not necessarily franchise players. Which is tough to build around 2 of them with the modern cap space, especially if they’re non shooters and just ok defenders.
Like what would a championship roster have to be, 2024 Celtics with an even more shooting rooted PG? It’s just tough to see what’s the vision right now.
Edit: Looking at the play by play I don’t even believe that Paolo + Franz + Suggs synergy tbh. Their lineups seem buoyed by anomalous 3 point shooting in their limited minutes together. It’s like 37% when all their individual lineups are like 30%. I can’t really believe that 3 non shooters together somehow elevate team shooting ability.
Point god at home
Yeah and they got in the groove when Paolo got injured, which has brought up these questions again. They are 5-2 since Paolo’s injury, were 6-6 before that. I think in the regular season they are fine and will always get into the playoffs with Paolo and Franz, but in the playoffs it’s too easy to shut down the paint and make their shooters try and beat you.
We were in the groove before Paolo went out. Won 3 of last 4 he played.
It’s not fine in the regular season at all. They’ve been terrible offensively for years. Like bottom 10 for a decade running
The suggs-bane-Franz -Paolo-wcj lineup is literally the best lineup in the league so far this season…
how big is the sample size lol
101 minute sample. There’s only been 12 lineups to eclipse 100 minutes this season but that lineup is the best lineup with more than 70 minutes played, third best over 60 minutes, and 5th best over 50 minutes
Not to rain on your parade, but if I asked you the question of who the best lineup was last season in this category with a cutoff at 200 minutes, without looking up, you’d probably fail even if you had 15 guesses.
I think Paolo is consistently a poor shooter. Franz alternates months were he looks like Kobe with months where he looks like Kyllian Hayes.
This is good news for the Magic. These guys are still young, they’re not non-shooters, and players often improve their shooting over time.
If just one of the two makes significant improvements as a shooter, the fit gets a lot better.
Could just double down on offensive rebounds like the Rockets
The biggest issue is they don’t space the floor for each other. One of them on the court is fine, but both and you start running into issues especially if your center isn’t a great shooter either.
you also run into even bigger issues if your PG also isn’t a great shooter. Franz and Paolo can probably coexist (preferably as the 2nd and 3rd best players on a team), but they need 2-3 better shooters in the lineup instead of just Bane.
The lineup data basically boils down to:
It’s really just a Paolo problem, not a Franz+Paolo problem.
Source
It’s definitely a Paulo issue. Dude just plays in the least efficient way possible for his own skillet. Maybe it’s a coaching issue, maybe it’s Paulo refusing to adapt.
u pay him not to be a role player tho, yes he needs to adapt somewhat but his elite ability is mismatching matchups and getting to the line which is something else they despertly needed outside of shooting, idk how they are doing as of late since he been out but im pretty sure they were toward the top with him in it
Does that mismatch hunting elevate his teams offense?
pretty good passer is what banchero is, the flaw of that team is there shooting ablity of there top guys and until those changes there only a tough out in the playoffs
Because of the injuries last you, I think you really need to look at that with two changes. Add Suggs into the mix, and only look at games where all three played. I believe that gives you a better look at their impact overall on the Magic. It’s a weird mix, obviously a smaller set of data, but also shows you just how big of an impact injuries had last year, how many games they played without one or two of their top three guys.
Wagner shoots like 36% from three. Not a complete non shooter
I love Franz, but he is a streaky shooter.
Career 32% 30% over the last 3 seasons.
What does that have to do with this year?
It’s an interesting question though. How many years do the magic have to be objectively better without him for them to be considered better without him
The idea behind trading him is selling high while other teams still see him as a future start with a ton of potential despite all the advanced metrics pointing in the other way - if you wait too long to do that his trade value won’t be as high anymore
Funnily enough, this was the year Paolo actually had better on/off numbers and net rating than Franz before his injury (and better than the other 3 most played players too), but then he got injured and they have been on a hot streak.
While in the past, Franz had way better on-off numbers.
Paolo can thank Tyus Jones for that.
Franz on, Paolo and Tyus off (274 min): +17.8 Franz and Paolo on, Tyus off (244 min): +7.0 Franz and Tyus on, Paolo off (115 min): -21.3 Paolo on, Franz and Tyus off (92 min): +6.3 Paolo and Tyus on, Franz off (34 min): +2.7
Had better on/off numbers for like the first 10 something games in the season you mean? That’s nothing
The concerning thing regarding Paolo is how consistent this trend has been, over multiple years and thousands of minutes
I didn’t say it like this was this super crazy and insightful thing that proves Paolo is better lmao, just responding to the “how many years do the Magic have to be objectively better” part of what you said and that it wasn’t true this year so far when they were both playing.
There’s context that these statements are missing though. 2023-2024 the on/off numbers were skewed by Isaac playing like a low minute Bill Russell (as stated by Bill Simmons) and Isaac and Paolo almost never sharing the court.
In 24-25 the roster collapsed like 10 days before paolo came back from injury. So while Franz (no Paolo) team had suggs and Moritz available, the Paolo (no Franz) team was playing Caleb Houstan and Trevelin Queen 30 mpg.
And again this is similar to what people said about JB and Tatum for years…you don’t trade players like Franz or Paolo because you can’t figure out the fit.
Make it fucking work, something will click. You don’t just trade them cause someone ain’t creative enough to figure it out.
Well tatum could shoot threes and brown was looking like he had potential there
These things are not comparable. Paolo is a 25% three point shooter, and Franz’s best ever year is essentially Jaylen’s worst ever.
That is my point…it will be hard to just “make it fucking work” when neither player can shoot consistently well whereas tatum was already a great shooter and jaylen was looking like he was on his way to becoming a great shooter when people were saying to trade them
Yes got it! We agree.
Tatum and Brown are both 40% on catch and shoot 3s for their entire career or most of it. Tatum has never shot below 40% on off the catch 3s in his career. It’s never been an issue if he’s off the ball because teams either don’t leave him or if they do they get burned. As a result their teams have always been good on offense. Even in 2020-2021 when they had bottom of the barrel supporting talent next to them, they had a top 10 offense. If Paolo/Franz have mostly played on bad offenses and their offenses are bad when they both play it’s a reasonable discussion to ask if they can play together.
The Jays never had an issue playing together. Their offenses have always been good and mostly ELITE when they are both on the court. So when they said it about the Jays, they were clearly dead wrong and just trying to tear apart two guys who were obviously going to win together at some point. This is different.
This suggests that one of them will reach Tatum’s level which I think is extremely unlikely
Not saying they’re 1:1 but I think the Franz Paolo fit makes me think of Randle and RJ on the Knicks where they operated out of so many of the same zones plus the Thibs coaching style didn’t really do as much to maximize their non iso scoring skills as much so it didn’t really enhance each other. You could say at least that comparatively RJ and Randle are more different in size and at least if you ran a PnR with Randle getting the switch on RJ’s man you might be more likely to have a size advantage but when RJ wasn’t being guarded by 2s it was kinda similar where it just would have been a 3 and 4 switching. JB and Tatum both being 3 point shooters makes the Paolo Franz situation way different. I’d even say it makes me think a bit of something like the Butler-Wiggins fit on the Wolves though Wiggins going down a peg to be more off ball and KAT being a shooter at the 5 glossed over the issues a bit more
Magic fans have been complaining about our offense for years for a reason
I just remember that game when Desmond Bane hit a game winner for them and the play was UTTER dogshit of a single screen and nothing else. The man guarding the screener just went up to defend Desmond, and Desmond happened to hit a really tough shot. (Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s2L16Fro4s)
I was just there sitting like how the fuck do you coach an NBA team and that’s what you drew up for a final shot. It wasn’t broken up or anything. There was just no way Desmond was gonna get off a good look unless the Blazers were brain-dead. So yeah I’m not too high on the Magic coaches right now.
Yeah it seems like the issue is scheme/coaching if a dude that can go 25 points 10 rebounds regularly isn’t missed.
One of the things I wonder about the non-shooter thing is, how much is lack of ability and how much is lack of a functional playmaker. A lot of the Magic offense seems to be “give the ball to Banchero/Wagner and see what happens”. If they had a functional offense and someone who could actually start play so the Duo could finish, maybe their shooting would improve.
Injuries keeping them from properly ironing out the kinks in their offensive system on the court are also a problem.
Having a competent playmaker aside from Suggs would be my top priority in reshaping the roster around them.
it’s not gonna work. they should trade him for a superstar big like Anthony Davis
Have Paolo come off the bench and let him destroy opposing benches.
It feels like they would be best suited to pick one and roll with that player. But they are in a good enough position to keep waiting.
The current sports landscape seems to force a lot of teams to dive into something just for even a 2 year championship window. I personally would much rather watch a team build something great and sustainable.
But the narrative is that the regular season doesn’t matter and a ring is the only thing worth anything. I firmly disagree.
Is that an Austin Rivers mural??
Self love is first love.
I’m the master of self love 😉
self rub*
Mose is a master baiter
Also notable that a lot of artists send their work of players to the player
If I was an ex nba player, I would tattoo my career to my forehead ngl
2pt .3 rb .5 ast per game?
it goes hard
Very much drawing attention to how many teams he played for
I don’t see a Wolves jersey :(
It’s a one of one
I read that as austin reaves
He had it custom made.
Are Magic fans wanting this or is it just 2k GMs wanting this
100% couch GMs and people who don’t watch any games. Box score bandits
I don’t get this take. You’re right that every single metric in existence isn’t a fan of Banchero (which is probably pretty concerning) but even if you just watch him you can see clear flaws in his game like his shot selection and decision making
The idea of Banchero is still way better than the reality currently
He has flaws in his game, which player doesn’t? Shot selection is easily corrected, he’s literally 23 years old and already a proven go to guy. The narrative that the magic is worse with him playing is just silly. It ignores the fact that they’re also much better with him AND Suggs on the court. The Magic don’t have a Paolo problem, they have a shot creation problem
Shot selection is easily corrected
Uhh……yeah I dunno about that one, chief.
That’s why Bones Hyland and Denzel Valentine are both borderline all stars and well compensated role players with long and robust careers in the NBA
Shot selection is easily corrected except this is year 4 and you’re still seeing these flaws
He hasn’t proven anything. Yes he’s the guy because he was a high draft pick, his actual production objectively isn’t good
His shot selection has clearly been much better this season after his dogshit start.
Shot creation is something that you’d want from your star player.
It’s worth noting that Paolo’s trade value COULD be at an all time high right now. I think there’s a very real possibility that Paolo is one of those players who peaks early, doesn’t work on their game much, and is out of the league in their early 30s.
Idk what trade options are available but it’s pretty clear to me that trading Paolo may be a pretty smart move if he continues to not improve. If he’s not much different in a year his trade value plummets.
If it’s anything like the grizzlies are better without Ja Morant discourse then I can tell you it’s not the fans
That Ja stuff was exaggerated and pretty silly. Banchero’s on/off stuff is way worse than anything we’ve seen from Ja
We’ve seen how well the Grizzlies fans vehemently defending Ja worked out
Yeah, we had multiple 2 seeds and an all nba player.
Alright let’s not pretend a single playoff series win is a success lol
lets not pretend like they weren’t missing multiple starters or rotation players damn near every postseason. not like they would’ve been champs but its insanely disingenuous to pretend a team going into the playoffs with like all 3 of their centers out for the season failed bc Ja wasn’t good enough. playoffs become who’s healthiest half the time and y’all like to ignore that.
went back, I was thinking of their 2023 lakers series where Adams and Clarke were out. seems like each year they get fucked by injuries
A single playoff series win is a failure regardless
Honestly, get ‘em. Too many couch kings on here act like a team/player not winning a championship means that they’re dogshit. People acting like he wasn’t huge for the Grizzlies is crazy.
I don’t disagree with you, but I feel like there were some Grizz fans that believed that though? I distinctly remember some folks being really high on SPJ & believing he could be the full time starter, I feel like you just don’t see that this season bc Scotty’s hurt & y’all have been without a PG most games
No grizz fans viewed SPJ as superior to Ja Morant. Other fans and the media wanted us to believe it
Fans are very good at identifying issues objectively about their team
There is a minority of Magic fans who think Paolo is hurting the team overall and we should trade him for a haul or more appropriate role players for Franz.
I don’t think it’s huge but it does exist.
This isn’t Magic fans - at all.
at what point are you allowed to question Paolo’s on off numbers? Its not like we have a large multi season long sample size of Orlando being much better with Franz over Paolo
Agreed. You’re being ignorant if you think his impact metrics and on/off data is nothing
We’ve really never seen a future superstar have these sort of numbers for years on end
Not that I wouldn’t mind Paolo getting traded but this feels similar to the Tatum and Brown situation from recent years where it’s more about the surrounding cast than the stars themselves.
Except Brown and Tatum actually fit together, the question was were they talented enough together. When one guy was attacking the other guy was always a 3pt threat. Franz and Paolo seemingly do not fit well together, I dont think defenses have to respect the spacing of either Franz or Paolo that much
You are absolutely allowed to question it, but the point of the video isn’t that. The point is that in the postseason you need someone who can get an iso bucket consistently against teams that are rested, motivated, and have specific gameplans. The east is so bad this year that it probably doesn’t matter though.
Is that really Paolo though? His efficiency is bad enough that you don’t really want him taking those iso shots either way.
It’s not right now but Austin does say in the clip he still has some growing to do.
They have the 2nd best lineup in the league this year with Paolo out there. Only behind OKC’s starters.
https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/lineups?season=2025&seasontype=regseason&min_possessions=200#tab-four_factors
that lineup has only played 101 minutes together. I’m not saying they aren’t good or anything but this is such a small sample size
Yeah it is. But it was similar last year too. +14 & +10 with Cole/Cojo as your pgs
And the year before with suggs-Gary Harris
maybe they just don’t fit together and you trade the worse one for a better fit
they will trade the wrong guy because of the draft pick bias
People still act like Derozan was a positive player, so probably never
I think those numbers can be deceptive because Franz is often one of the first guys to sub off and then he’s brought back in to run with the twos. So, it could just be a case of Franz bringing up his numbers without Paolo because he’s going up vs bench players.
Austin rivers scored 40 something on me in highschool and I had like 3 and I’ve never been the same. He was also 2 grades younger
Put it on the mural
Did you make the mixtape?
Paolo we love you please don’t leave.
He seems quite bought into Orlando as well??
Paolo Banchero has never had a season with…
What is his net rating this year?
Please provide the average for which you are using for the other stats.
Boy, this is your favorite comment to post on this sub
Paulo Banchero just turned 23 years old 3 weeks ago.
Wait who’s doing drugs lol
He’s saying if you think they’re better without Paolo or that they should trade him, you’re on drugs.
That’s what I’m saying? You’re like the only comment here talking about the drugs comment. wtf is going on?
He’s not saying anyone is actually on drugs lol. It’s the same as saying “you’re crazy for thinking that.”
Literacy is down the drains if you guys can’t even understand he’s saying the people parroting Magic is better without Paolo are fucking dumbass
Not me mom i swear.
You see my D.A.R.E shirts?!
You’re not?
does every roleplayer bust have a podcast now
Yes but that’s not fair w Austin because he’s also in traditional media
Rivers had a pretty average career for a 10th pick.
Nah it’s beyond that, we got flamed out role players with podcasts now
EDIT: This is not Austin Rivers slander either btw, he had a nice little moment in the league
Austin “Top G” Rivers has actually been a great NBA personality.
This is just Tatum and Brown part 2 stay the course and don’t trade a superstar under the age of 25
Paolo isn’t a superstar. He’s not even close to one
He just got labeled that and people assumed massive upward trajectory because he’s young that hasn’t happened yet
Tatum and Brown could both shoot and both play defenses
Tatum and Brown are nothing like Paolo and Franz
I’m old enough to remember people thinking Golden State was crazy for trading Monta Ellis.
That’s cause Monta Ellis have it all.
Anyone calling to trade Paulo is dumb.
It depends on the return. He’s the kind of guy some teams would overpay for.
Trade Paulo, keep Paolo
Shit if they dont want him we’ll take him.
Is Paolo Banchero the Demar DeRozan of SF/PF?
Thoughts Magic fans?
You’re welcome ESPN.
Of PFs
That’s actually a great comp. He’s just a bigger derozan
I use DeRozan because I was a fan of Demar’s game in Toronto but he never translated any success in the postseason.
I find myself with a little déjà vu when I talk about Banchero. I thought he’d take the next step around now but I have yet to see it.
Paolo has been INSANELY good in the 2 playoffs series he’s been in, you can say he’s a playoffs riser, or you can say he’s been completly unsustainably good on jumpers in 12 games and that he’s been consistently mediocre on those same shots for his whole career.
I don’t think the fit with Franz is really that good, other then the fact that one of them will always have a smaller guy on him, so if you believe that Franz is better then Paolo (I do, despite the fact that Paolo has completly outplayed him in both playoffs series), yes trading him for a guy on the same timeline who fits better could be interesting, I’m not sure who fits that archetype tho
Paolo has played 12 playoff games and has shot nearly 42% from 3 in those games despite being under a 32% shooter for his career
And despite this wildly unsustainable shooting he still has been sub 54 TS% in the playoffs
franz shot 19% from 3 to paolo’s 44% last playoffs and still finished with a better shooting percentage somehow
47% from long 2 compared to 39% in the regular seasons.
If it’s him being a playoffs riser it’s cool, but it’s just random shooting variance then he’s not a top 50 player
In one playoff series he scored at 55% true shooting and in the other one he scored at 51.7% true shooting. In both series he was a very large human who couldn’t manage better than a 13% rebound rate.
INSANELY GOOD!! NO ONE SHOULD EVER QUESTION HIM!!
Lauri?
co host lookin like an older version of rivers
Andrew Tate really looks good with hair
Austin Rivers looking like Andrew Tate
Trading Paolo might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard lol I mean what are you getting for him?
Fuck you. I like my drugs.
This scenario completely ignores what the possible return would be. For example, would the Hawks have listened last year to a Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels for Paolo offer? Would New Orleans give Herb Jones, Trey Murphy lll and a draft pick for Paolo? These are reasonable questions. Austin Rivers worships Paolo in the same way past players have worshipped Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. It’s not unthinkable that the Magic could be better after a trade.
Also I think the potential returns would actually be way better than that.
Like you’re probably getting 4+ unprotected firsts plus promising young players for Paolo right now.
If the Magic can get 4 unprotected firsts and some role players then they should trade him
Apparently, if you think this, it means you’re abusing drugs and out of your fucking mind
Exactly.
Not that I’m saying either team would do it, but Paolo for Maxey would be interesting. Maxey has been better than Paolo lately, but can a small guard lead a contender? And they have VJ and McCain, positionally, Paolo would be a great fit. This does fuck up Orlando’s size and defense meta though, as Bane at the 3 is a little small (especially length wise). But they instantly add elite scoring punch.
Personally, I would change coaches if they can’t figure it out this year. No need for a trade yet. There has to be a better offensive coach who can make Paolo and Franz work better.
Would New Orleans give Herb Jones, Trey Murphy lll and a draft pick for Paolo?
Absolutely not. Queen is the offensive hub of the Pelicans and TM3/Herb fit really well around him. Pelicans will be adding 3&D type players and not another high usage on ball player.
Also Austin is sticking up for a fellow Duke Alum. I’m personally for trading Paolo for assets and make another move down the road. I like what I’m seeing from Anthony Black, Suggs, Bane, Da Silva in Paolo’s absence so even a pick heavy trade will be great for Orlando
yeah, I’m not suggesting any specific trade– just pointing out that what comes back in return could be meaningful and useful. Rivers is acting like it’s completely out of the question, which I really don’t think is the case.
At the end of the day the ceiling of the magic depends on both franz and Paolo improving individually as shooters neither guys are finished products yet.
dont forget ab und tristan. both have been putting in WORK. and the celtics game with jett and penda looked promising aswell. i can see a optimistic future.
They need a creator. You know, like Zach Levine.
AR giving all the real to the don’t watch basketball nephew’s.
Rivers picking that background says a lot.
We don’t this stupid shit again like we did with Tatum and Brown?
They aren’t Tatum and Brown because they can’t shoot. Also neither are even close to Tatum or his trajectory
I’ve actually come to this idea that this is a thing with all the teams and their big stars (admittedly came to me when teams are more worried about the Knicks when Brunson is out) I think the idea is, when the star is in, the team is fully in is identity, revolves around the star, the opposing coaches and players know the gameplan and know how to prepare for it . But when the star is out every team falls into kind of a free for all and sometimes completely different gameplans; sometimes people you’ve never seen play start having stellar performances, sometimes another duos or trios get created from the remaining players , etc . Same with Heat without Bam and Herro , etc . I think it’s a legit thing that when the star is in game needs to go thru them , but when the star is out there’s x factor
The team is absolutely not better without Paolo. They’re better when they make quick decisions, which the team struggled with until about 8 games into the season. Paolo got hurt shortly afterward. He is not the problem, though. Their slow offense and decision-making is. Paolo does not hold the ball selfishly or anything. In fact, he has fantastic passing vision. He’s a rhythm player, and I think that’s helped some bad habits continue to live on, but he is not a problem. He’s great on both sides of the floor and he raises everyone else’s game, and guys can’t match up with him physically.
just because your team is playing well without a star player doesn’t mean trade him. they might be even better when that player gets back
celtics fan chiming in to say they should definitely trade paolo, preferably to a team in the western conference. trust me on this, no ulterior motive at all
Kind of a real life George Costanza of the NBA
Clowns would always defend derozan during his raps time when he never was a positive in any single lineup over his final 6 seasons. Some guys are just purely negative players when they cant shoot defend dribble or pass in the flow of offense.
Im not as low in banchero like it as on derozan but magic def dont run a smooth offense when banchero plays
How many Magic games with Paolo have you watched this season?
They aren’t better with or without him
It’s a fun debate, but the ‘95 Magic had Shaq in his absolute prime, which is a ceiling this current team just can’t match
Magic Shaq wasn’t his absolute prime 😂.
Once again he shows the same level of game analysis as his dad which is mid. Paolo doesn’t fit this team or their goals. They need to get someone else and no that’s not saying his bad or anything it just says he’s not a fit
Hard for me to take Austin seriously in that Jean Claude Van Damme from Kickboxer tank top. Also he looks disturbingly like Andrew Tate.
Yeah I recall someone pointing out the Tate resemblance awhile back and it’s so true lol
Now I can’t stop thinking about it
Podcasters saying anything for clicks. What’s new
I’m sorry but the collage of Austin Rivers are killing me wtf lol
Have not heard a single person say this
This is a classic “what you can do” vs “what you actually produce” situation, and former players almost always obsess about “what you can do.”
Paolo is super skilled - but he’s yet to turn those skills into even average efficiency scoring. High-volume scorers who are below-average efficiency only help you win if they bring a lot else to the table.
That’s hardly the only problem Orlando has, but it does feel like Banchero has an pre-2015 offensive game and if that doesn’t change it’s going to put a ceiling on his teams unless every other player on the team is selected to complement his skillset, which isn’t a winning strategy (IMO) unless you’re talking about a truly elite player. You wanna build your team around Giannis’ limitations? Sure, no problem. Paolo’s? That’s a much dicier call.
But he’s also young enough and the overall team offense has been dysfunctional enough that it feels like it could all change.
josh smith
A guy who never averages 20ppg in his life.
why do they always scratch their weird beards? stand still for at least 3 seconds…
Gotta see what the analytics 📊 say
From a Grizzlies fan - no matter how talented a player you are, team basketball beats out ball stopping. Team basketball is less predictable and leads to easy buckets and everyone being engaged. Our craziest stretches come when Ja is out.
Again, it’s not about talent. They just can’t be so in love with their talent that they screw up the flow. For the Magic sake, Paolo must learn how to fit his game into the team structure
I don’t know where people keep getting this Paolo doesn’t fit into the teams structure from.
There’s no chemical solution to a spiritual problem
Who do you trade for?
Paolo is massive, 6-11 and like 265. He can handle, has good vision, good passer, and has shot that is improving. He just turned 23. That is a rare skill set.
Aside from shai joker Luka Wemby, who would you want?
It’s not realistic to trade him during the season because players who signed rookie extensions count as their average annual value against the cap for the receiving team, which makes salary matching almost impossible for teams in the apron. But if the Magic go out in the first round again despite going all-in on Bane and we don’t see Banchero make the kind of leap Cade made last year, surely the Magic will at least listen to trade offers.
Rivers overreacting like you can’t be a good player but a bad fit due to personnel, scheme, style etc
Bane and Franz aren’t able to score or playmake?
“Analytics told me I sucked, too. Analytics needs to stop smoking crack cocaine.”
He couldve just said “you are absolutely wrong”
This sub still on the Banchero Hate Train for some strange ass reason?