The Orlando Magic have seen a surge of media recognition in the past 48 hours. At 10:00 PM ET on Thursday night, Paolo Banchero shined when he faced off against Jabari Smith Jr. in a very anticipated Summer League showdown between the number one and number three pick, in which Orlando dominated Houston 77-91. Through technical difficulties thanks to the NHL Draft and ESPN’s unannounced channel switching, fans were clamoring to watch these top prospects for the first time since their college days. And it certainly did not disappoint. Let’s break down the debut of these talented young players and see what grain-of-salt conclusions can be drawn from Vegas after one game.
Star Power has made its way back to Orlando!
Consider what you just saw as a warning, NBA. While it is still Summer League, the NBA world had their eyes opened to what Paolo “The Problem” Banchero is capable of. Stepback threes and Luka-esque passes are simply not normal for fringe 7-footers, let alone a rookie. Banchero finished the night with a solid 17 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds while having a +20 plus/minus, the highest of anyone on the team. Banchero was engaged on defense as shown in his ability to force multiple turnovers on smaller ball-handlers, cut off passing lanes, and meet players at the rim to contest finishes. The headline of the night was the matchup between Paolo and Jabari, a seemingly media-driven “rivalry” due to the speculations surrounding the pre-draft process. Although Smith held his own on the defensive end and made a few solid drives, give credit where credit is due– Paolo Banchero had Smith locked up for the majority of the exhibition. Smith was held to 10 points on 40% shooting from the field and 25% from three.
“We’ve got a bunch of great players on the team that make great cuts and set great screens, so I’ve got to get them the ball.” – Paolo Banchero on why he prides himself on his playmaking skills.
Banchero showed promise of a trustworthy three ball, shooting down one of his heavily discussed weaknesses by starting the game out 2-2 from behind the arc. The viral clip that shows Banchero using an array of dribble moves to shake Jabari Smith and drain a stepback three is only the beginning for what can become of Banchero’s three-point shooting ability. The handle, the follow-through, all of it is just evidence to an upwards trend. To this point, the Magic as an organization have been known recently to use advanced analytics to study a prospect and their shooting abilities. As stated by Jeff Weltman in Ryen Russillo’s podcast, he and the rest of the Magic organization believe Banchero is just a few years shy of developing a deadly arsenal from deep.
It should also be noted that Banchero, along with many other members of the Magic, have been spotted multiple times with infamous shooting coach Chris Matthews, known mainly as Lethal Shooter. Clearly, they hit the nail on the head when using these metrics to study former 8th overall pick Franz Wagner. So it’s safe to say that what we’ve seen out of Banchero’s shooting–albeit an already amazing display–is only a scratch on the surface.
The biggest standout from Banchero’s gameplay tonight was his maturity level as a basketball mind. Everything seemed to go at a much slower pace for Banchero, a sign of an elite knowledge of the floor as well as polished physical ability, one of Banchero’s noteworthy pre-draft strengths. To continue off of what analyst Skip Bayless said in the latest edition of Undisputed, Paolo Banchero looked like a multi-year veteran playing amongst boys. His ability to see the floor from a perspective of a facilitating point guard while being the heaviest and tallest player on the court is comparable to sticking a Varsity starter in middle school scrimmages. Paolo utilized his dominant physical frame to get to his spot in the mid range and high post, often drawing heavy contact and even converting on two separate and-1 plays in the mid range. The footwork as a big man that he possesses was proven to be unmatched at the summer league level, as players were simply scrambling to keep up with his soft touch and finesse near the basket. Truly a masterful first impression for the 19-year-old out of Duke, with surely many more mesmerizing Banchero buckets to come in the following days.
Houstan, we have a problem…
What had fans in Orlando on their feet wasn’t just the fantastic performance from Banchero, it was the breakout of 32nd overall pick Caleb Houstan. Houstan tallied 20 points on 5-9 shooting from the 3. This flurry of deep shots rallied an amazing 4th quarter beatdown as Orlando withstood a Rockets late run. It may have come as a shock to many who are unfamiliar, but for those who have done their homework on the Michigan wing, this was a well-deserved victory lap.
It’s been stated in multiple areas of the Magic’s media availability that there was a fair amount of celebrating that took place in the war room when Caleb Houstan was still available at pick 32, and we saw why last night. The 6’8 3&D specialist put on a show, displaying his wide variety of off-ball intangibles combined with an elite shooting touch, hopefully earning him some traction for rotational minutes. It’s worth noting that Caleb and the Magic’s front office have yet to sort out the details of a contract, so it’s likely that this year’s Summer League has more at stake for Houstan and his camp than it would for a lottery pick.
“I’ve known who he was for a while… he’s a real mature player who can shoot the hell out of the ball.” – Paolo Banchero on teammate and fellow rookie Caleb Houstan.
With only one guaranteed roster spot available, the Magic will have to decide to offer it to either Devin Cannady or Caleb Houstan. If Houstan is not offered the guaranteed spot, two-way negotiations will likely take place and we’ll be seeing Caleb in Lakeland for the better half of the year. The G-League would certainly not be a bad option either, as Houstan could use more development time to shape out the raw skills that garnered him a top 10 ranking before the college season.
With the Magic’s current direction, many bench spots are up for grabs at any moment. Chuma Okeke and RJ Hampton’s minutes could be Caleb Houstan and Gary Harris’ minutes in the blink of an eye. The addition of Jonathan Isaac easing his way back on the court makes for an embarrassment of riches for Coach Mosley to experiment with for his second unit, since the starting lineup is 99% set in stone for Orlando. It’ll truly be exciting to see Houstan get more reps throughout Vegas, since it’s been made clear Orlando doesn’t use second round picks on just anybody.
These next few months preceding the regular season will continue to shake up Orlando’s opening night intentions. There’s still plenty more roster moves to make, contracts to sign, and basketball to be played. Here’s looking forward to a healthy and exciting remainder of Summer League, Magic fans!