Most of the conversation this offseason centered on Paolo Banchero has often been about what he is not. Or what he is not yet.
There are discussions about Banchero and whether he can be the anchor of a championship-level team. There are criticisms of his shot selection and field goal efficiency. Everyone is trying to figure out what they think about Banchero.
Banchero signing a max contract extension with full Rose Rule provisions and a player option on the final year only adds to the pressure. The Magic clearly view Banchero as an anchor player and the star they want to build around.
The question that is left to answer is whether Banchero will rise to become one of the elite players in the league.
There are already plenty of hints that he can get there. The biggest hint is that the Magic pushed their chips in to improve the roster around him. Orlando certainly believes the team is ready to compete for something beyond a playoff spot.
With the team's payroll and salary, it is fair to expect Banchero to take the leap into the MVP conversation. And he will get there because the Magic finally have a team to make the most of his immense talent.
"I'm very high on Paolo this season. I think he is going to do tremendous things," Michael Pina said on The Ringer NBA Show. "Based on, OK, very talented, former No. 1 overall pick, has never quite had the right pieces around him that accentuate his skill set. I think Paolo has that. . . . I think we are going to see a lot of the weaknesses and shortcomings that you can poke at with Paolo go away this year. Winning, good stats, efficiency, I think he'll be a candidate this year."
This will be the story of Banchero's season. This will be the story for the Magic's entire project now.
Banchero is not so far from the conversation as it is. He is currently going at +8000 (800/1) odds to win the MVP award, 10th in the "standings" on FanDuel Sportsbook. Everyone clearly sees MVP potential in Banchero.
Whatever perceived weaknesses Banchero has, he now has a roster that should minimize those weaknesses. It is on Banchero to put all those narratives to rest.
Many of his excuses are gone.
A "Cade Cunningham-esque" leap
In many ways, the easiest comparison for Paolo Banchero is Cade Cunningham, the player taken No. 1 the year before him.
At least part of the Internet debate has been talking about which player is better between the two as both Banchero and Cunningham jockey for their place in the NBA pantheon and the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons jockey for position in the Eastern Conference.
The reality is that their paths are somewhat similar.
Both were drafted to rebuilding teams and put in a position to be the team's savior. Both players had fairly inefficient starts to their career.
Cunningham averaged 20.0 points and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and 32.9 percent from three in his first three seasons. Banchero averaged 22.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on 44.5 percent shooting and 32.0 percent from three.
Cunningham dealt with injuries throughout his first three seasons, but the difference came last year not just from Cunningham being healthy but from the roster the Pistons built.
They exited the rebuild phase and added key veterans to give Cade Cunningham better spacing and shooting with Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. The development of young players in Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, and a serious coach in J.B. Bickerstaff, helped the Pistons make their breakthrough.
Orlando has obviously broken through to the Playoffs. But the complaint about Banchero's game is that everything is hard for him. The Magic had to make moves to give him more space and try to make his shots a little easier.
They believe they did that in adding an elite shooter like Desmond Bane and a backup guard in Tyus Jones. The continued development of their young players and the return of Jalen Suggs from injury should give Paolo Banchero significantly more spacing, like Cade Cunningham got last year.
That is why there is a belief a leap is on the way. Like Cunningham, the Magic believe they have solved a significant problem.
Paolo already has MVP numbers
What a lot of the Paolo Banchero discussion this season failed to mention is that Banchero has largely already made an MVP leap, even with the weaknesses inherent in the roster last year.
Banchero had an OK season when looking at his full-season averages -- a career-high 25.9 points per game, but an icy 45.2 percent shooting and 32.0 percent from three. He had a career-high 50.0 percent effective field goal percentage.
But that includes the roughly five weeks after he came back from his oblique injury, where he was struggling to find his shot and get back into playing shape. He averaged only 20.6 points per game and shot 40.6 percent from the floor and 28.9 percent from three in the first 17 games after returning from that major injury.
After the All-Star Break, Banchero looked like an MVP candidate already. He averaged 29.0 points per game and 7.8 rebound sper game while shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three. He had a 58.3 percent true shooting percentage on a 34.5 usage rate.
That true shooting percentage ranked eighth among players with a usage rate of 30 percent or more in true shooting percentage. There is still work to do to improve his efficiency, but when Banchero was healthy, he tok a step forward.
And he, of course, showed up in the playoffs, putting dents in the Boston Celtics' defense despite not having a playoff-capable team around him.
That was the missing element was the weaponry around him. And the Magic have given Banchero the supporting cast to get into the MVP and All-NBA conversation this year.