3 NBA peers you should actually be comparing to Paolo Banchero

1. Luka Doncic

While everyone is focusing on Paolo Banchero's efficiency and scoring as the central part of his story and his areas of improvement, Banchero is so much more than that. And that is the part the larger national media seems to be losing.

Banchero keeps popping up on lists for his first two seasons that highlight not only his scoring but his passing too.

Lists like this one:

Consistently comparisons for Banchero highlight how his raw counting stats are things we only see from elite players. That is why there should be more celebration of what Banchero has accomplished paired with his team success and the belief that he can break into the top tier of the league.

Banchero is a future All-NBA player.

But as even that tweet might note, Banchero has the most work to do to pick up on wins and impact winning on a deeper level. The advanced stats dislike him for whatever reason.

Banchero's passing is one of his most underrated skills. And the potential for him to become an even greater weapon depends on Banchero's growth as a decisionmaker.

He averaged 5.4 assists per game last year, leading the Magic in assists. Orlando wants Banchero to be the team's main playmaker and creator—for better or worse for the time being.

Banchero undoubtedly has to find the balance between scoring and creating. And part of his improvement in his efficiency is to reduce his turnovers and mistakes. He averaged 3.1 turnovers per game last year and 4.6 in the playoffs. It was the biggest weakness in his game as he carries such a significant burden.

But that is also part of his growing process.

In that sense, how does he compare to Luka Doncic and his early turns as a playmaker and scorer since they are the most recent players on this list?

In Doncic's rookie year, he averaged 21.2 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and 6.0 assists per game with a 54.5 percent true shooting percentage. He also averaged 3.4 turnovers per game.

Clearly, Doncic was not the offensive juggernaut that he is now, but he had his struggles and issues in his rookie year. Also clearly, Doncic is a more natural point guard and playmaker than Banchero is.

The leap in Doncic's second year though was bigger. He averaged 28.8 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game and 8.8 assists per game while posting a 58.5 percent true shooting percentage. His efficiency has only gotten better as time has gone on.

That efficiency too has hidden his high-volume of turnovers. He averaged 4.3 per game and has only averaged fewer than 4.0 turnovers per game once since then.

Banchero's turnovers increased last year as he took on more playmaking responsibilities. But they did not increase dramatically.

Obviously his efficiency and true shooting percentage have not jumped up. Otherwise, we would not be constantly having these conversations.

But as many of these elite star players show, that leap comes and it hits hard. The hope for the Magic is that Banchero is due for a major leap in his third season.

For this project in Orlando to work, the team needs Banchero to become one of the elite players in the league. Maybe that is the point of all of these debates and conversations about him this offseason.

And maybe everyone needs to give Banchero the space to prove himself. He made strides last year in addition to leading his team to the playoffs for the first time. The Magic are expecting another major step forward this season as he continues to grow.