If Paolo Banchero doesn’t begin to significantly improve at a jump shooter, the Orlando Magic could be in serious trouble. They are an awful jump shooting team, and he’s a big part of the problem.
“Dude, there are some slarming stats with the Orlando Magic that are not just small-sample theater, Zach,” Kirk Goldsberry said on The Zach Lowe Show. “They track back with their fatal flaw of last year, that make me very concerned. Let me tell you something about this weekend in Orlando. Not only did the Magic lose at home to the Bulls, which I’m sure caught your eye. That night, they scored 15 points on jump shots. Fifteen total points on jump shots. How bad is that? That is the single lowest total in that category since December 2023.
Obviously, that stat pertains to the entire roster, but Banchero’s individual struggles are leading the way.
Where does Paolo Banchero fit into all of this?
In addition to pulling that stat from the Bulls game, Goldsberry also mentioned Banchero’s jump-shot numbers from this season and last season:
“He’s made just five of his 27 jump shots this year, and I’m not cherry-picking. I love Paolo — he’s a huge part of the future of American basketball — but last season, among the 62 most active jump shooters in the NBA, he ranked 60th in efficiency. He has a jump-shooting problem, and as the team’s most active scorer, that’s an issue. Some of the advanced numbers aren’t trending in the right direction, and this start to the season has cemented in my mind that he might not be improving at this key phase of his career.”
Banchero is the best player on the Magic. It’s him and Franz Wagner, with Desmond Bane right alongside them. The talent on the team is undeniable.
But if Orlando wants to be considered a serious threat in the East, they need to be a better jump-shooting team. And that all starts with Banchero. He either needs to be better or to alter his shot selection.
Perhaps Banchero would be better off takign less jumpers and trying to get to the basket more, a la Zion Williams. Or maybe the solution is for him to simply keep grinding out his jump shot, working to improve it so he can be efficient.
But right now, the reality of the situation is that Orlando doesn't have enough good jump shooters for Banchero to be as inefficient as he is.