Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic have had some time to think about their season. It has been three weeks since the Boston Celtics sent the Orlando Magic home for the summer after a five-game first-round series that felt closer than it was but still presented a wide gulf.
Since then, Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has made a public pronouncement that the team is entering a new phase and looking to make moves with a "win-now" lens.
Considering how conservative the Magic's front office typically acts, this is a profound statement. All the Magic can do is look back at this season and figure out how aggressive they need to be.
That is likely part of the reflection Banchero made -- as he told Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel at an event earlier this week. He may not quite be ready to share everything he learned from this at times frustrating and difficult season.
There was a lot to take in -- from the frustration of sitting out more than two months with an oblique injury suffered five games into the season. It derailed so many of the Magic's plans and set the tone for a season that was not a victory lap or a step forward but a fight to maintain their spot.
It still feels like Orlando is fighting to keep its spot.
But Weltman making that statement said something else about this season. There was no more waiting around or betting on development or the like. He looked at his roster and what his team did in the Playoffs and understood internally that the time to act was now.
Weltman could see what everyone else could see coming out of this season -- he had two All-Star-level players. And those kinds of players do not wait around for teams to figure themselves out.
For all the culture-building and identity and growth the team has carefully manicured, the Magic exit their 2025 season and all of its disappointment with one truth: Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are perennial All-Stars and All-NBA-level players.
In a season of frustration that fell short of expectations, Banchero and Wagner soared. They are the clear MVPs of this season and map a path toward title contention for this team.
The clock has already begun ticking.
"You can't take these years or these seasons for granted," Banchero said during exit interviews. "I was coming into my third year expecting to have a huge year. I had 50 points in my fourth game and I thought it was going to be like that the whole year. The next game, I go down and get hurt. It was a little bit of a wake-up call for me. You can do everything right, prepare, everything possible to get ready, and you can still go down and get hurt and have to deal with that."
For this entire young team, the season was a lesson that nothing is promised and teams do not roll over season-to-season and improve. Everything is earned and you start from scratch at the beginning of every season. And no one can plan for all the challenges a season presents.
That despite the injuries they faced this year both Banchero and Wagner grew and carried a hurting and tired team back into the Playoffs speaks to their potential.
Paolo and Franz shine
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner became the first pair of Orlando Magic players to average 20 points per game in the same season since Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway in 1996.
Banchero finished with 25.9 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 4.8 assists per game this year with 45.2/32.0/72.7 shooting splits. Wagner finished with 24.2 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game and 4.7 assists per game with 46.3/29.5/87.1 shooting splits.
They both improved their numbers in the playoffs. Banchero averaged 29.4 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game and 4.2 assists per game with 43.5/44.4/65.9 shooting splits and Wagner averaged 25.8 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game and 5.6 assists per game with 44.3/18.9/76.9 shooting splits.
For both players, they saw increases in usage and raw scoring production. They showed what they can look like carrying a team's heavy offensive load. But their efficiency and deficiencies -- Banchero's shot selection and shot profile and Wagner's 3-point shooting -- were still on display.
But so was their growth. So was the Magic's certainty that they have two max-level, All-NBA-level stars.
"I was put into a little bit of a new spot when Paolo went out," Wagner said during exit interviews. "Looking back on it, I think I handled it pretty well. I was pleased with how I was playing then. Obviously, the injury was at a terrible time because I felt we were rolling as a team. That's how it goes sometimes."
Wagner's breakthrough in the time that Banchero was out was specifically revelatory.
Wagner proved his potential as a leading man and top dog, as it were, by averaging 26.1 points per game, 6.0 rebounds per game and 6.3 assists per game with 45.7/30.5/87.7 shooting splits. The Magic went 13-7 in those 20 games, staying afloat.
His injury is what began the Magic's decline. And Orlando was never quite the same until that final push to end the season.
Plenty of room to grow
It is there you need to remember Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are 22 and 23 years old, still. Both went through major injuries for the first time. They needed time to get back into rhythm and struggled to do so for long stretches.
Banchero especially struggled when he first returned, finding his star rhythm after the All-Star break, averaging 29.0 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game with 47.3/33.3/78.3 shooting splits.
The small moments led to disappointment overall. The team did not come together the way they hoped overall. It was a tough season.
"I would say just how tough of a year it was," Banchero said at exit interviews. "How many ups and downs there were, but also how we responded. Stuff that we went through and how we were able to make the best of it. The guys in the locker room really stuck together through some tough times and got us together where we needed up."
The Magic needed everything they could get from their two star players all season long. They were the base from which everything could grow. And, at times, they picked up the slack ofr an offense that could find a rhythm all season long.
It was a learning season for the team but for these two players too. And Banchero and Wagner came through it with career numbers and a lot of hope and promise for the team's future.
The timeline seems to be accelerating just because of how good they can be -- and how much help they desperately need.
The Magic do not feel that urgency without the confidence they gained in evaluating Banchero and Wagner as current and future All Stars. There is a lot of pressure on this season for that reason alone.
Banchero and Wagner have earned all those accolades. They have earned that urgency.