Paolo Banchero dreaming of an early return from injury

Paolo Banchero is loving every moment he can on the bench right now even as he waits for his return to the court.

Banchero tore his right oblique on Oct. 30 at some point during the Orlando Magic's loss to the Chicago Bulls that evening. Since then he has been a constant presence on the bench, rising to cheer his teammates on, discussing what he sees with assistant coach Jesse Mermuys or with head coach Jamahl Mosley and even chatting with officials about calls during the game.

Banchero even picked up a technical foul in Friday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers for talking a bit too much after a controversial foul call in the second half.

The Magic are rolling right now on a six-game win streak with Franz Wagner emerging as the team's likely All-Star candidate after winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week last week. It is hard not to get excited.

Banchero is certainly excited.

But he is also eager to get back on the floor after his incredibly hot start—29.0 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game and 5.6 assists per game on 49.5/34.4/64.4 shooting splits including a 50-point effort—was cut short by the injury.

Banchero already has a date in mind, as he told Marc Spears of Andscape in an upcoming entry in his season-long diary for the site that is expected to be released Thursday with more details about his injury.

Banchero wants to be back before Christmas.

It is good to hear that Banchero is doing so well and feels good in this initial phase of his recovery. And Banchero feels confident he can hit the Christmas timeline. But, he pumped the brakes enough to say that if director of player performance Arnie Kander said he is not good to go, then he would wait to return.

He has to let his body dictate his recovery at this point.

Everyone seems to recognize that recovering fully from this injury is the biggest priority. And the oblique injury is a difficult one to rehab and recover from. Spears reported Banchero is not able to do very much right now -- not even running or stretching.

When the Magic announced Banchero's injury on Oct. 31, they said the team would re-evaluate him in 4-6 weeks. That would put the re-evaluation window opening on Thanksgiving Day next week. It seems likely the Magic will provide their own update on Banchero's progress by the beginning of December.

Of course, that is just the period to re-evaluate him. If Banchero is healing and improving, then he has to ramp back up with conditioning and on-court work before he touches the floor. Christmas, a mere five weeks away, seems like an optimistic and aggressive period to return.

With the way the Magic are playing, they can probably afford to be cautious and let Banchero work his way back to full health. A six-game win streak makes everything feel a whole lot better.

Of course, Orlando knows its December will be especially difficult.

The Magic have just started a stretch of nine road games in 11 games total with this West Coast trip to Phoenix and Los Angeles. The Orlando Magic leave for New York to face the Brooklyn Nets (twice), New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers (twice) on Thanksgiving Day.

That road trip may not be as daunting as it looked in the preseason. But it should still be a test. The team gets rewarded for all of this travel with a season-long seven-game homestand from Dec. 8-29 (that homestand will be interrupted by the two NBA Cup games or their replacement games that get added to the schedule).

It seems likely Banchero could ramp up to return during that homestand, especially with ample time inside the AdventHealth Training Center and the potential for a few practices in between games.

Considering, the Orlando Magic are 7-0 at home to start the season, even tough opponents in that stretch like a rematch with the Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics do not seem as heavy. Especially with the prospect that Banchero can return.

If Orlando can continue to make a push on the road during the next three weeks, the team could set itself up to be sprinting when Banchero returns to boost the lineup.

Wendell Carter should return to the lineup soon too. He was upgraded to DOUBTFUL ahead of Monday's game with his plantar fasciitis. That is at least a signal his return is imminent.

The team is starting to see itself become whole again.

But for now, the hope is Banchero is healing and making progress toward his return. And the hopes are that the Magic can indeed get a nice gift under the tree in December.