Paolo Banchero knows the responsibility that comes with being the team's star and its No. 1 pick.
Following the Orlando Magic's loss to the Boston Celtics last year, he did not paint a happy tone. He made it clear his is not where the Magic wanted to be.
To be back in the offseason after a first-round loss was a bitter pill to swallow, especially losing a 3-1 series lead. The 2026 season did not go the way the team wanted.
And it left another challenge from the star player heading into the offseason.
"It's frustrating being in the same spot three years in a row and getting the same result," Banchero said after Game 7. "It's about winning habits. It's about creating a winning environment every single day. From September to now. We've got to be better. It doesn't start in April when the playoffs start. It starts in September and October when we get everyone in the building.
"You build habits. You build an environment where losing isn't acceptable. Losing in the first round isn't acceptable. It's not good enough. It shouldn't be comfortable in the building. It should be everybody on their p's and q's feeling pressure to be great. This result isn't good enough. That's the mindset that needs to be there top to bottom."
The Magic responded to that with the predictable move to change coaches, dismissing Jamahl Mosley on Monday. The question is: How many other changes to the roster will that lead to, and what does this challenge mean for Banchero himself?
Paolo's challenging season
Without a doubt, Paolo Banchero did not have the season he or anyone hoped for.
So much of what the Orlando Magic wanted to accomplish this season was based on Banchero taking another leap in his game.
Instead, Banchero often became a punching bag for the Internet. In The Athletic's anonymous player poll, Banchero garnered four of the 81 votes for the most overrated player in the league.
Some of those arguments are overblown. But it still said something that the Magic went 26-25 in the 51 games Franz Wagner missed with the high ankle sprain (he missed 47 of 51 and the Magic went 2-2 when he played).
Banchero averaged 22.2 points per game, down from his 2025 output. He posted a career-high 8.4 rebounds per game to go with 5.2 assists per game. He shot a career-best 45.9 percent from the floor and had a career-best 56.6 percent true shooting percentage.
Still, he had a 49.6 percent effective field goal percentage and shot 30.5 percent from deep. The Magic once again had a negative net rating with him on the floor -- -0.2 points per 100 possessions. Only Tyus Jones had a worse on-court net rating among the Magic's regular rotation players.
There does feel like something left on the bone for Banchero.
"I think Paolo is really hard on himself," president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said Monday. "He's really competitive. He's really driven. He's a great learner. I think our group is really attached, and I think they believe. Paolo, I think, shows you who he is in the Playoffs. Some of this, as I always come back to, we have to look at ourselves and our roster construction. It starts in the summer and builds out through the season. I think Paolo is going to have a great season next year."
Banchero has always been a Playoff riser. And he mostly showed out in the Playoffs, averaging 26.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. He had 45 points in the Game 5 loss and 38 in the Game 7 loss.
Those two games largely satisfied the national media and proved he could be a big performer as this team continues to grow.
Paolo did shine in the end.
"What I do care about is how [Banchero] played," Tracy McGrady said on NBA Showtime on NBC on Sunday. "And I've seen growth in him. We've been talking about Paolo and how we suspect he should play. Games 5 and 7 is who he is and who he should be. That's who you are. Don't forget that. Let's build around that right there. Let's consistently be that player all the time, and we don't have to have that talk next year."
Because there is always another side to Banchero, those two performances conveniently forget his 4-for-20 showing in the Magic's disastrous Game 6 loss.
But that kind of inconsistency is what was maddening about his season. It is why the challenge to be better must start with him if it is going to reach his teammates.
A challenge to everyone
If there was one area that Paolo Banchero needed to grow and improve this year, it was with his intangibles and leadership.
It is perhaps unfair to ask a 23-year-old in his fourth season in the league to be the leader of a young team. He is bound to have growing pains.
At times this year, it seemed Banchero was finding it difficult to find the right energy. There was clear frustration building throughout the season.
If Orlando is going to take the next step as a team, it will start with more consistency from Banchero. His challenge needs to be directed inward. Orlando needs the best version of Banchero to succeed.
But that call after Game 7 was also for the rest of the team. It was Banchero trying to set the tone for an important offseason for himself and the rest of his teammates. They were not good enough to advance.
If Banchero is willing to set the example, he is right that the whole team needs to do their work this offseason and come ready for training camp in the fall.
That is on the players who will return to be ready to go and locked in from the start. It is on the front office to help propel the team forward with the right coach and right player acquisitions too.
"It's not the head coach, it's all of us," Jeff Weltman said Monday. "This team, we believe, is constructed to do well in the postseason. We have to, like Paolo said, it starts in the preseason and continues on, and you build good habits. My only goal -- I don't set numbers or rounds -- I just want to get better every month and be playing the best basketball at the end of the season. That's when good things happen."
The gauntlet is laid as the season concludes and the team heads to its offseason. The team's star player has made his public call to create some urgency.
The question is will the team listen to that call all summer? Will Banchero set the standard for himself?
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