It should not be a surprise that the Orlando Magic's 2026 season has led to at least a national accounting of what went wrong and the assigning of blame to the team's most high-profile player.
The Magic entered the season with the expectation of competing atop the Eastern Conference. They pushed their chips into the center of the table with the Desmond Bane acquisition to boost a lagging offense. They believed they had the foundations to go all-in.
After a rough season, the Orlando Magic still found themselves ahead 3-1 in their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons. With three tries to advance, the Magic again fell short, including an embarrassing home loss in Game 6 that featured the worst offensive half in NBA history.
As things do, the blame falls on the team's star.
With Franz Wagner out for the majority of the season, the Magic's struggles were laid at Banchero's feet. And that noise is only getting louder as the Magic sink lower in the national consciousness.
Some of these criticism are perhaps being taken too far.
"A lot of times for a 23-year-old to change, he needs to see the errors in his way," Brendan Haywood said on Finding the Seams. "I don't know if Paolo has gotten there yet. Some guys get comfortable playing a certain way, and they don't like getting out of their comfort zone. Some guys are able to switch that. I don't know which guy he is yet.
"His game has been the same since high school. It has been catch, hold, jab, then I get into a move, dribble, bounce. If you are going to be that ball-dominant, you can't average 22 points per game and shoot 30 percent from three."
Even Haywood prefaced his criticism of Banchero by saying he cannot tell you a 23-year-old cannot change. How good Banchero can be rests on him. And changing coaches could change Banchero's comfort zone and push him to improve.
But Haywood's argument is essentially that Banchero either needs to be an elite player or he needs to change the way he is playing. And he is not sure that Banchero can make that shift in one summer.
The story on Banchero has often been unfair. But last season was not Banchero's strongest.
He averaged 22.2 points per game, about the same as his All-Star 2024 season. He averaged 16.0 field goal attempts per game with a 27.6 percent usage rate.
He continues to fight the numbers as someone who has never had a positive net rating in any year of his career -- although DataBallr had the Magic with a +0.2 net rating when Banchero was on the floor, removing low-leverage minutes.
There are indeed a lot of areas where Banchero must improve if the Magic are going to achieve their ambitious goals.
But often, many of Banchero's critics miss the areas where he has grown.
Orlando is still a better team with Banchero. The question is whether they can be a championship-level team.
A career season?
Paolo Banchero is certainly a lightning rod for criticism.
It is fair to say that his style of play does not mesh with the more analytically minded way many process the league. He is certainly a player who needs to be more efficient.
Banchero will probably be the first to say that his season was not what he wanted it to be last year. There are clear areas that he needs to improve.
But people who want to give up on him are missing key areas that will help him be a more complete player. He took some key steps last year, even if they were not the big ones.
Banchero's counting stats are still solid. And he averaged career highs in several key areas that critics were hoping to see more from him.
He posted a career-high 8.4 rebounds per game. He also added 5.2 assists per game, his second season averaging at least 5.0 assists per game.
Banchero was one of six players in the league last year to averaged at least 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. The only other player on the list who was not an All-Star was Jayson Tatum, who did not step on the court until March.
The crux of criticism toward Paolo Banchero, including from Brendan Haywood, was his overall efficiency.
Banchero can still improve in this area too. But he had a career-high 45.9 percent field goal percentage despite his 30.5 percent 3-point shooting. His 56.6 percent true shooting percentage was also the best of his career.
Banchero must continue to improve his overall efficiency. No one can deny that.
His 56.6 percent true shooting percentage was the 10th worst among 45 players who had a usage rate of at least 25 percent.
Notably, though, it beat out All-Stars like Cade Cunningham and Pascal Siakam. The difference might simply be perception -- both the team's record and that pesky plus/minus.
Banchero is indeed fighting against perception. And he is under the pressure to perform.
The best when it matters
But the one area where Paolo Banchero performs at his best is under pressure.
Even his critics must begrudgingly admit that Banchero has had incredible performances in the Playoffs. If anything, the disappointment in Banchero comes from knowing he can play at that high level when it matters most.
Banchero averaged 26.3 points per game in last year's Playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. He added 9.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
Again, Banchero was one of three players to average 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game in the Playoffs. The other two were Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum -- all three players were out in the first round, if that means anything.
Banchero averaged 27.0 points per game in his playoff debut against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2024 and 29.4 points per game in the 2025 series with the Boston Celtics.
If anything, this is the Banchero his critics want to be permanent. Everyone can see it in him. There is disappointment he has not reached it.
Banchero is certainly under pressure to deliver both individually and for his team. That is ultimate what will define success for him.
But he has gotten better. He has changed in some significant ways. It just has to play out more clearly on the court.
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