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Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner's All-Star chances tied to Orlando Magic's results

The Orlando Magic have two players who are potential All-Stars this year depending on how this season turns out for them. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have a clear path to play in the big game in San Francisco in February.

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Paolo Banchero is inching closer to perennial All-Star status, but he needs to improve just as his team needs to improve to get there.
Paolo Banchero is inching closer to perennial All-Star status, but he needs to improve just as his team needs to improve to get there. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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The NBA season has not yet begun but it is already easy to begin thinking about what will be in store.

The Magic's players have talked about their ambitions to win homecourt advantage and surprise the league again after finishing with the 5-seed last year. They are already thinking about the playoffs, even in October.

April is a long way away. And there are going to be several markers before then. If the Magic are going to accomplish those goals there is one way station on the way that will speak to where the Magic are at.

All-Star voting is a long way from now too. The All-Star teams are not revealed until January. And the Magic's schedule in the first half of the season could be very difficult—including being part of the toughest group in the Eastern Conference for the NBA Cup.

If Orlando is going to be a team with homecourt advantage, it will undoubtedly happen because their two young stars progress into true All-Stars.

Paolo Banchero is already there, trying to become a perennial All-Star and someone who spends every February wherever the league hosts its All-Star weekend. Franz Wagner is trying to get there and his presence as a second All-Star for the Magic likely comes because the Magic are a great team.

That is the chicken or the egg problem. Is a player an All-Star because their team is good or is a team good because they have good players?

The answer is, of course: Yes.

Orlando needs Banchero to take another step and grow as a playmaker, creator and scorer. And the team needs Wagner to improve his scoring and improve his shooting to reach another level in the NBA hierarchy.

But ultimately how those two players are viewed in the larger NBA narrative depends on how they impact their team in the standings. It is all about how they help Orlando climb the standings.

Unless a team has really popular players, the only way a team gets rewarded with two All-Stars is by being at the top of the standings. That is what the coaches will always recognize first.

That is where the Magic's two star players stand when it comes to their preseason odds of making the All-Star team.

The question then is whether the Magic will be good enough to get Wagner more serious consideration for the honor and whether Banchero takes the big step into becoming a perennial All-Star whose spot on the team is assured every season.

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