LAS VEGAS — Nestled in a low-riding chair wearing a sharp white polo and black shorts, it was easy for Magic star forward Paolo Banchero, stationed at Court 11 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, to blend in with the crowd while he supported his beloved Seattle Rotary AAU team.
Such is the nature of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, or EYBL for short. The thousands of kids scrimmaging nonstop throughout the day — surrounded by the flurry of activity from parents, scouts, agents and onlookers in between the individual courts — almost make him a secondary figure, allowing him to escape attention.
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It’s a much harder task pulling that off at his day job. Banchero, a 6-foot-10 forward entering his fifth year in the NBA, is approaching a pivotal point in his young career. His style of play, a high-usage offensive engine unto himself — with a high motor, processing speed and unique skill set for someone his size — is hopeful of meshing seamlessly with a new head coach. Sean Sweeney, a former assistant coach under Mitch Johnson in San Antonio, joined the Orlando Magic following the Finals, looking to take the organization further forward than what his predecessor, Jamahl Mosley, could.
The underlying Banchero question has always been how to marry his versatility with his surroundings, all while producing efficient play. Advanced analytics paint a wide-ranging picture of Banchero’s overall impact, as metrics can be influenced by spacing (personnel choices), tactics and strategy. Banchero ranks 97th in LEBRON, 146th in DARKO, 141st in LAKER and 56th in Player Efficiency Rating. Last season was the first, according to Cleaning the Glass, that the Magic weren’t a net negative with Banchero on the floor (Orlando was -17 in his playoff minutes, but was also -19 with him on the bench versus Detroit.)
Orlando is blessed with an abundance of additional playmakers — Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black are all capable of creation — but Banchero’s assist rate, combined with how often he possesses the ball in the frontcourt, warrant additional conversations between Banchero and Sweeney for how to improve the Magic’s output.
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One obvious area for improvement, outside of X’s and O’s, is his 3-point shooting, which has quietly declined in each of the past three seasons to just 30.5%. Another is becoming more of a defensive playmaker and using his 7-1 wingspan to force more deflections and generate stops.
In any case, the former Duke star remains a talented, young player with a high ceiling now armed with a new coaching staff. The 23-year-old briefly caught up with Yahoo Sports over the weekend about Sweeney, goals for himself, the shifting power in the NBA and more.
The more I watched you last season, it felt like your processing speed improved, being able to play in the halfcourt at your own pace as opposed to being sped up by things around you. What was the key to that improvement?
I think just every year, trying to improve on decision-making and trying to find small ways to get better. It’s something I take pride in. I think last year could have been a lot better. I wasn’t totally happy with my performance, but I definitely think that when it came to some of my processing, decision-making, I improved in those areas.
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Is it harder as a taller, bigger playmaker? It seems like a good amount of things you were asked to do are consistent with smaller guards. Does the added size add to the difficulty?
No, I think it’s easier! I think it’s just about getting the ball in advantageous positions and being able to use my size and skill to make plays for my teammates. This coming year, I’ll be able to do a much better job, and the team will have a better understanding of where I like the ball, where they should be when I do have it and draw a second or third defender.
How have some of the early conversations with Sweeney been? Two thinkers of the game getting together.
They’ve been great. They’ve been great. Me and him have really hit it off so far. He came out to Seattle last week, worked out with me for a couple days. And obviously we’ve been working out here in Vegas with the rest of the coaching staff. I’m just really excited about what he can do for me and the team. Like you said, he’s a great mind on both sides of the ball. Extremely detail-oriented and he’s an intense guy too. And I feel like that’s what I need, that’s what the team needs. So it’s really exciting.
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In terms of the balance of power in the NBA, it certainly feels like things have shifted toward the East. Have you felt something similar?
I mean it’s a lot of big names coming to the East. I’ve always felt like the East is the better conference, even though I think in the past we’ve been more slept on. I think you saw that this year with the Knicks and their run. Guys see it around the league. The East is wide open in my opinion — a lot of guys feel that, that’s why a lot of free agents are coming. But I’m excited and the team’s excited. Like I said earlier, last year wasn’t what we wanted. It didn’t go how we wanted. But a lot of people are going to forget about us and count us out, so it’s on us to go and show that we’re an elite team in this league. We got a chance to win the East.
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Any particular benchmarks for you this season? Something you want to reach that you weren’t able to last year?
For sure. Improve in all areas. Field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage, free-throw percentage. Obviously just be more efficient. I feel like I can be a guy who averages 25 [points], 8 [rebounds] and 7 [assists]. I feel like that’s pretty attainable for me. So just showing up consistently every day, not worrying about the numbers and just worrying about the process and how I’m playing to help us win. And all that will take care of itself.
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