The Official Paolo Banchero Thread: 2022-2023 NBA Rookie of the Year

[Knightro]

In the last 20 years, there have been 1400 combined rookie and sophomore seasons in the NBA.

Only 5 of those 1400 rookies and sophomores have led their team in scoring on a team that won at least 45 games.

-Yao Ming (Hall of Famer, 8x All-Star, 5x All-NBA)
-Carmelo Anthony (10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA, HOFer in 2026)
-Dwyane Wade (Hall of Famer, 13x All-Star, 8x All-NBA, 3x NBA champion)
-Donovan Mitchell (5x All-Star, 1x All-NBA just 7 years into career)
-Joel Embiid (7x All-Star, 5x All-NBA, League MVP)

Paolo seems incredibly likely to become the 6th player on this list the next couple of weeks.

[tooler]

I generally don't pay much attention to the "arbitrary cutoff statistics" to show how younger player XYZ is like MJ and LeBron, but that's certainly fascinating and also surprising. So many bad teams with draft picks that score a lot of points. So either they don't play for winning teams or they don't emerge until their junior year.

[Residual-Heat]

this kid is quickly becoming a true leader on the court. You can see he's more vocal. He tries to keep the players focused. I remember when Franz was arguing with GTJ and Black with Brunson, both times Paolo ran to them and kept them from getting too heated. He also knows when his teammates are cooking and he will make an effort to make plays for them. He knows when to just give the ball to Franz when he wants him to get it going. Just really nice to have someone who is so unselfish and very mature for his age.

[eyriq]

In the last 20 years, there have been 1400 combined rookie and sophomore seasons in the NBA.

Only 5 of those 1400 rookies and sophomores have led their team in scoring on a team that won at least 45 games.

-Yao Ming (Hall of Famer, 8x All-Star, 5x All-NBA)
-Carmelo Anthony (10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA, HOFer in 2026)
-Dwyane Wade (Hall of Famer, 13x All-Star, 8x All-NBA, 3x NBA champion)
-Donovan Mitchell (5x All-Star, 1x All-NBA just 7 years into career)
-Joel Embiid (7x All-Star, 5x All-NBA, League MVP)

Paolo seems incredibly likely to become the 6th player on this list the next couple of weeks.

Whoa, great stuff. Statistical leadership on a winning team. Occam's razor.

[JoshuaPotter]

Bravo find Knightro.

Helping my burner account, I mean eyriq build his case for one of the best young cores ever.

[Audi]

Read on Twitter

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Don't want to make a thread...thought you'd guys would like this video.

Watch on YouTube

[Def Swami]

If the Magic can be somewhat average as a shooting team next year, I think Banchero ends up top 5 in MVP voting this season. The scoring and playmaking are there. The space will further unlock him and lead to wins to get him in the conversation.

[fendilim]

If the Magic can be somewhat average as a shooting team next year, I think Banchero ends up top 5 in MVP voting this season. The scoring and playmaking are there. The space will further unlock him and lead to wins to get him in the conversation.

I hope so. The team only added Tyus and Bane. Not sure if that will spell much of a difference for Paolo. I think we need more shooters, a volume shooter at that.

[Skybox]

If the Magic can be somewhat average as a shooting team next year, I think Banchero ends up top 5 in MVP voting this season. The scoring and playmaking are there. The space will further unlock him and lead to wins to get him in the conversation.

I agree…I expect, just based on style of play, etc that Bane & Franz will have lower than previous scoring avg (while still playing VERY well) but I wouldn’t be surprised if Paolo approached 30 ppg, while the team still plays winning ball. The bench players, as far as scoring, will be relegated even further down the offensive hierarchy…as they tend to on strong teams…it’s another reason that Moe’s value ($$) to ORL took a hit. I just think the offensive contributions will be re-ordered…guys like Tyus, AB, JI,and WCJ could have great years without any bump in scoring numbers- hopefully just efficiency across the board.

Paolo’s game just naturally draws attention, he’s built to score first.

[Orlando Dawg]

The flip side to Butterfingers Banchero is in 2025-2026 he and his mom will no longer have anybody else to blame.
The #1 draft pick is supposed to win rookie of the year.
Videos created by shoe companies trying to rip people off don’t mean jack.

[SOUL]

The flip side to Butterfingers Banchero is in 2025-2026 he and his mom will no longer have anybody else to blame.
The #1 draft pick is supposed to win rookie of the year.
Videos created by shoe companies trying to rip people off don’t mean jack.

Blame for what?

[msmoore66]

The flip side to Butterfingers Banchero is in 2025-2026 he and his mom will no longer have anybody else to blame.
The #1 draft pick is supposed to win rookie of the year.
Videos created by shoe companies trying to rip people off don’t mean jack.

Blame for what?

Personal insult to Orlando Dawg?

Edit: initial post probably a bit harsh.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

For those interested, Paolo has a Youtube channel...

Warning: Some language (I really wish they would just bleep the words out). The video is very well made.

Watch on YouTube

[KillMonger]

Man just browsing this thread, some awful takes in here..... Some by posters that probably forget they even said some of this BS.... I know it's hindsight but they did not see the vision

Sent from my [Sidekick 5G] using RealGM mobile app

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Man just browsing this thread, some awful takes in here..... Some by posters that probably forget they even said some of this BS.... I know it's hindsight but they did not see the vision

Sent from my [Sidekick 5G] using RealGM mobile app

I thought we were going to trade him when we drafted him so what did I know?

Oddest draft for us. Orlando had a YouTube video of Jabari’s workout and his speaking to the media, I was really confused when we got this guy.

[RookieStar]

Man just browsing this thread, some awful takes in here..... Some by posters that probably forget they even said some of this BS.... I know it's hindsight but they did not see the vision

Sent from my [Sidekick 5G] using RealGM mobile app

I thought we were going to trade him when we drafted him so what did I know?

Oddest draft for us. Orlando had a YouTube video of Jabari’s workout and his speaking to the media, I was really confused when we got this guy.

I think a lot of us already knew how our GMs worked. Zig instead of Zag. Never leaks. Smoke bombs everywhere.

I too was carried by the Jabari hype but on the back of my mind i think i was bracing myself for Chet because he wasnt featured at all and i anticipated how our GMs does stuff