2025-2026 Regular Season Game 3: Chicago Bulls (1-0) at Orlando Magic (1-1) - 7pm ET

[VFX]

Paolo's playmaking is non-existent and Franz's playmaking load is reduced.

Are we transitioning away from a winghub offense?

Paolo has 2 assists in 3 games.

I’m not saying that’s the reason we are losing. It’s more an indictment of the offense being non existent because Paolo is a black hole in “winghub” bull ****. Everyone stands around and watches him hoist up horrifically difficult stupid shots.

At least with Franz he can finish at the rim most times in isolation. Paolo just hunts free throws if he isn’t taking fadeaway jumpers over 6 foot point guards.

I don’t take that as “Paolo just needs to hit shots”. Because if he has an off night the production goes nowhere due to him contributing nothing if he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.

It’s a coaching issue. Paolo needs to catch the ball off a play that creates room. He has to learn to be effective off ball. The offense has to be more complex than one dimension. They went out and got Desmond Bane for a million picks and I’m watching an iso show still that cant collapse defenses.

The numbers show a significant departure from his role last season (46 games). Last season he was a true point-forward who was the engine of the offense. This season, even with similar minutes, he's making/receiving fewer passes, and those passes are far less likely to create a shot for a teammate.

His role as a primary distributor has been drastically reduced. Coaching is trying to depart from a wing-hub offense and it is failing spectacularly.

Key Stat Comparison (2024-25 -> 2025-26):

Assists (AST): 4.8 -> 1.0
Potential Assists: 9.4 -> 6.7
Assist Pts Created: 12.4 -> 3.0
Assist to Pass % (AST TO PASS%): 10.0% -> 2.2%

First, this is a three game sample size… so extrapolating data at this juncture isn’t really smart. You can use the eye test that tells you nothing has changed outside of adding Bane, who is a better playmaker than KCP.

Second, nothing has actually changed aside from slightly increased playmaking from Bane and Suggs limited minutes. Neither of those things should change how Paolo is being utilized.

Orlando’s offense was dogwater last season as well.. so I’m not really sure your point. Our bad offense is still bad with Paolo not generating looks on offense? Yeah that’s called the system sucks regardless.

Mosely could label Paolo whatever he wants and it wouldn’t matter. He’s not efficient. He takes bad shots. He hunts for fouls instead of efficiency. I’m cringing when Paolo brings the ball up pretending like there is some genius scheme taking place.

The bottom line is that Paolo should be the recipient of passes off of screens, and not the distributor, considering he isn’t doing anything substantial with the ball outside of the odd 1/5 game he has hitting miraculous inefficient jumpers.

Dude needs to be watching Pascal Siakam film to understand his role and not Carmelo Anthony tape from 2008. One is efficient winning basketball and one is not.

[eyriq]

Paolo has 2 assists in 3 games.

I’m not saying that’s the reason we are losing. It’s more an indictment of the offense being non existent because Paolo is a black hole in “winghub” bull ****. Everyone stands around and watches him hoist up horrifically difficult stupid shots.

At least with Franz he can finish at the rim most times in isolation. Paolo just hunts free throws if he isn’t taking fadeaway jumpers over 6 foot point guards.

I don’t take that as “Paolo just needs to hit shots”. Because if he has an off night the production goes nowhere due to him contributing nothing if he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.

It’s a coaching issue. Paolo needs to catch the ball off a play that creates room. He has to learn to be effective off ball. The offense has to be more complex than one dimension. They went out and got Desmond Bane for a million picks and I’m watching an iso show still that cant collapse defenses.

The numbers show a significant departure from his role last season (46 games). Last season he was a true point-forward who was the engine of the offense. This season, even with similar minutes, he's making/receiving fewer passes, and those passes are far less likely to create a shot for a teammate.

His role as a primary distributor has been drastically reduced. Coaching is trying to depart from a wing-hub offense and it is failing spectacularly.

Key Stat Comparison (2024-25 -> 2025-26):

Assists (AST): 4.8 -> 1.0
Potential Assists: 9.4 -> 6.7
Assist Pts Created: 12.4 -> 3.0
Assist to Pass % (AST TO PASS%): 10.0% -> 2.2%

First, this is a three game sample size… so extrapolating data at this juncture isn’t really smart. You can use the eye test that tells you nothing has changed outside of adding Bane, who is a better playmaker than KCP.

Second, nothing has actually changed aside from slightly increased playmaking from Bane and Suggs limited minutes. Neither of those things should change how Paolo is being utilized.

Orlando’s offense was dogwater last season as well.. so I’m not really sure your point. Our bad offense is still bad with Paolo not generating looks on offense? Yeah that’s called the system sucks regardless.

Mosely could label Paolo whatever he wants and it wouldn’t matter. He’s not efficient. He takes bad shots. He hunts for fouls instead of efficiency. I’m cringing when Paolo brings the ball up pretending like there is some genius scheme taking place.

The bottom line is that Paolo should be the recipient of passes off of screens, and not the distributor, considering he isn’t doing anything substantial with the ball outside of the odd 1/5 game he has hitting miraculous inefficient jumpers.

Dude needs to be watching Pascal Siakam film to understand his role and not Carmelo Anthony tape from 2008. One is efficient winning basketball and one is not.

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

[GameOver25]

The numbers show a significant departure from his role last season (46 games). Last season he was a true point-forward who was the engine of the offense. This season, even with similar minutes, he's making/receiving fewer passes, and those passes are far less likely to create a shot for a teammate.

His role as a primary distributor has been drastically reduced. Coaching is trying to depart from a wing-hub offense and it is failing spectacularly.

Key Stat Comparison (2024-25 -> 2025-26):

Assists (AST): 4.8 -> 1.0
Potential Assists: 9.4 -> 6.7
Assist Pts Created: 12.4 -> 3.0
Assist to Pass % (AST TO PASS%): 10.0% -> 2.2%

First, this is a three game sample size… so extrapolating data at this juncture isn’t really smart. You can use the eye test that tells you nothing has changed outside of adding Bane, who is a better playmaker than KCP.

Second, nothing has actually changed aside from slightly increased playmaking from Bane and Suggs limited minutes. Neither of those things should change how Paolo is being utilized.

Orlando’s offense was dogwater last season as well.. so I’m not really sure your point. Our bad offense is still bad with Paolo not generating looks on offense? Yeah that’s called the system sucks regardless.

Mosely could label Paolo whatever he wants and it wouldn’t matter. He’s not efficient. He takes bad shots. He hunts for fouls instead of efficiency. I’m cringing when Paolo brings the ball up pretending like there is some genius scheme taking place.

The bottom line is that Paolo should be the recipient of passes off of screens, and not the distributor, considering he isn’t doing anything substantial with the ball outside of the odd 1/5 game he has hitting miraculous inefficient jumpers.

Dude needs to be watching Pascal Siakam film to understand his role and not Carmelo Anthony tape from 2008. One is efficient winning basketball and one is not.

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

If they do this, bye bye then also to the new up-tempo style offense they want to implement.

[VFX]

The numbers show a significant departure from his role last season (46 games). Last season he was a true point-forward who was the engine of the offense. This season, even with similar minutes, he's making/receiving fewer passes, and those passes are far less likely to create a shot for a teammate.

His role as a primary distributor has been drastically reduced. Coaching is trying to depart from a wing-hub offense and it is failing spectacularly.

Key Stat Comparison (2024-25 -> 2025-26):

Assists (AST): 4.8 -> 1.0
Potential Assists: 9.4 -> 6.7
Assist Pts Created: 12.4 -> 3.0
Assist to Pass % (AST TO PASS%): 10.0% -> 2.2%

First, this is a three game sample size… so extrapolating data at this juncture isn’t really smart. You can use the eye test that tells you nothing has changed outside of adding Bane, who is a better playmaker than KCP.

Second, nothing has actually changed aside from slightly increased playmaking from Bane and Suggs limited minutes. Neither of those things should change how Paolo is being utilized.

Orlando’s offense was dogwater last season as well.. so I’m not really sure your point. Our bad offense is still bad with Paolo not generating looks on offense? Yeah that’s called the system sucks regardless.

Mosely could label Paolo whatever he wants and it wouldn’t matter. He’s not efficient. He takes bad shots. He hunts for fouls instead of efficiency. I’m cringing when Paolo brings the ball up pretending like there is some genius scheme taking place.

The bottom line is that Paolo should be the recipient of passes off of screens, and not the distributor, considering he isn’t doing anything substantial with the ball outside of the odd 1/5 game he has hitting miraculous inefficient jumpers.

Dude needs to be watching Pascal Siakam film to understand his role and not Carmelo Anthony tape from 2008. One is efficient winning basketball and one is not.

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

Sorry dude, but Tyus Jones coming off the bench for Suggs isn’t “changing the system”. Him playing 14 minutes last night isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. You can’t make the claim that Paolo holding onto the ball and taking a bad shot with 20 seconds left on the shot clock is somehow due to him not “being the hub” as a distributor. Lmao.

You can’t just acquire players without changing how things work and expect it to make sense. Paolo is still a black hole. Franz still bails bad offense out. Carter took 3-4 back to back possessions last night into his own hands on offense thinking it was the best option. That’s all coaching.

You could take Tyus completely out of the rotation and nothing would change. This is the same **** we’ve been watching for 3+ years. I said this offseason adding a better shooter changes nothing. Nobody wants to have that conversation right now though. I’ll wait 20 more games before I start pulling receipts.

[eyriq]

First, this is a three game sample size… so extrapolating data at this juncture isn’t really smart. You can use the eye test that tells you nothing has changed outside of adding Bane, who is a better playmaker than KCP.

Second, nothing has actually changed aside from slightly increased playmaking from Bane and Suggs limited minutes. Neither of those things should change how Paolo is being utilized.

Orlando’s offense was dogwater last season as well.. so I’m not really sure your point. Our bad offense is still bad with Paolo not generating looks on offense? Yeah that’s called the system sucks regardless.

Mosely could label Paolo whatever he wants and it wouldn’t matter. He’s not efficient. He takes bad shots. He hunts for fouls instead of efficiency. I’m cringing when Paolo brings the ball up pretending like there is some genius scheme taking place.

The bottom line is that Paolo should be the recipient of passes off of screens, and not the distributor, considering he isn’t doing anything substantial with the ball outside of the odd 1/5 game he has hitting miraculous inefficient jumpers.

Dude needs to be watching Pascal Siakam film to understand his role and not Carmelo Anthony tape from 2008. One is efficient winning basketball and one is not.

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

If they do this, bye bye then also to the new up-tempo style offense they want to implement.

We were the 22nd ranked offense with 22 year old Franz and 21 year old Paolo as point forwards. They are now 24 and 23 with an elite volume three point shooter in Bane. Stick with the wing-hub offense and enjoy the extra juice we get from their greater experience and Bane's elite impact.

[GameOver25]

I'm not saying I disagree. I just don't think Paolo will be able to thrive with how the team is trying to play now. Unfortunately it looks like we have to slow it back down and live with it.

[Bergmaniac]

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

If they do this, bye bye then also to the new up-tempo style offense they want to implement.

We were the 22nd ranked offense with 22 year old Franz and 21 year old Paolo as point forwards. They are now 24 and 23 with an elite volume three point shooter in Bane. Stick with the wing-hub offense and enjoy the extra juice we get from their greater experience and Bane's elite impact.

22nd ranked offense is pretty terrible, almost all teams behind us were blatantly tanking IIRC. And a large reason for us not being even worse than this was the bench units crushing it offensively when Ingles was the main ballhandler and Moe the center.

Anyway, Paolo is leading the team so far this season both in time of possession (by some margin) and in passes made. He is still the hub as much as there is one on the team.

Sent from my moto g84 5G using Tapatalk

[GelbeWand09]

The point is that his role has changed and its been to his detriment. They embraced the "we need a floor general" concept (your pet argument) and have installed a system that deemphasizes Paolo's playmaking AND IT ISN'T WORKING. Tyus needs to be out of the rotation (he might be) and Paolo and Franz need to be the primary playmakers (system change). I suspect this is exactly what we'll see. We are best when we run a winghub system like Boston.

If they do this, bye bye then also to the new up-tempo style offense they want to implement.

We were the 22nd ranked offense with 22 year old Franz and 21 year old Paolo as point forwards. They are now 24 and 23 with an elite volume three point shooter in Bane. Stick with the wing-hub offense and enjoy the extra juice we get from their greater experience and Bane's elite impact.

If you're using those statistics, you should also be aware that the league is fluid. That means that the same 22nd offense from three years ago would probably be 29th or 30th this season, because more and more teams are playing faster and shooting more 3-pointers. This means that if you play the same bull tactics (iso heavy), you will automatically get worse if these two high-usage players are not scoring more efficiently than three years ago (check) but have only increased their volume.

[Audi]

They aren’t trading Paolo or Franz.

Stop.

They’d sooner fire Mosely.

Mosley is closer to COTY a than he is being fired.

Is he?

Did Orlando Magic Twitter tell you that?

On the contrary - Magic Twitter is having the same sky-is-falling meltdowns and bad takes many are having here.

Mose has been a top contender for COTY leaguewide. The idea that experts, coaches, players etc would suddenly think Mose is now not up for consideration but instead on the hot seat after 3 games is the epitome of Magic Twitter - so ironic you even mentioned it.

[zaymon]

If they do this, bye bye then also to the new up-tempo style offense they want to implement.

We were the 22nd ranked offense with 22 year old Franz and 21 year old Paolo as point forwards. They are now 24 and 23 with an elite volume three point shooter in Bane. Stick with the wing-hub offense and enjoy the extra juice we get from their greater experience and Bane's elite impact.

22nd ranked offense is pretty terrible, almost all teams behind us were blatantly tanking IIRC. And a large reason for us not being even worse than this was the bench units crushing it offensively when Ingles was the main ballhandler and Moe the center.

Anyway, Paolo is leading the team so far this season both in time of possession (by some margin) and in passes made. He is still the hub as much as there is one on the team.

Sent from my moto g84 5G using Tapatalk

Paolo freezes offense->players cant get shooting rhytm->teams pack the paint->Paolo has excuse for not passing the ball and not finishing at the rim->max contract.
Brilliant businessman but not a great first option
What does wing-hub offense even mean ? We beg Paolo to kick the ball on drives ? Right now the best idea would be to just stand in the corners and rest on offense while Paolo bricks shot after shot and then use all energy on defense. Thats Harden Rockets blueprint. Difference is Harden could shoot, pass and finish at the rim and his team was still worse than more egalitarian Warriors.

[GelbeWand09]

Mosley is closer to COTY a than he is being fired.

Is he?

Did Orlando Magic Twitter tell you that?

On the contrary - Magic Twitter is having the same sky-is-falling meltdowns and bad takes many are having here.

Mose has been a top contender for COTY leaguewide. The idea that experts, coaches, players etc would suddenly think Mose is now not up for consideration but instead on the hot seat after 3 games is the epitome of Magic Twitter - so ironic you even mentioned it.

Regardless of what you think of Mosley, that argument isn't really valid.
Coaches of the year are regularly fired the next year or two later. It doesn't matter what people thought before the season if the team isn't performing as it should.

[VFX]

Mosley is closer to COTY a than he is being fired.

Is he?

Did Orlando Magic Twitter tell you that?

On the contrary - Magic Twitter is having the same sky-is-falling meltdowns and bad takes many are having here.

Mose has been a top contender for COTY leaguewide. The idea that experts, coaches, players etc would suddenly think Mose is now not up for consideration but instead on the hot seat after 3 games is the epitome of Magic Twitter - so ironic you even mentioned it.

We’ll see.

He’s on the hot seat if he can’t figure out how to make 2 max contract players + future mortgaging Desmond Bane work in a system. He's the first to go honestly. The offense has been glaringly bad. They went out and got him a vet SG and hired him new coaches. Mosely is gone before Weltman is if he can’t figure it out.

[Rainwater]

Is he?

Did Orlando Magic Twitter tell you that?

On the contrary - Magic Twitter is having the same sky-is-falling meltdowns and bad takes many are having here.

Mose has been a top contender for COTY leaguewide. The idea that experts, coaches, players etc would suddenly think Mose is now not up for consideration but instead on the hot seat after 3 games is the epitome of Magic Twitter - so ironic you even mentioned it.

We’ll see.

He’s on the hot seat if he can’t figure out how to make 2 max contract players + future mortgaging Desmond Bane work in a system. He's the first to go honestly. The offense has been glaringly bad. They went out and got him a vet SG and hired him new coaches. Mosely is gone before Weltman is if he can’t figure it out.

Yeah, I will have to agree. Although I do believe the Magic will eventually figure it out (it's only been 3 games for crying out loud), if for whatever reason they don't, Mose will be gone not this season but the following season.

[pepe1991]

22# offense is dog*** offense.

Those are teams that were behind Magic that year:
Nets : 32-50
Raptors: 25-57
Wizards: 15-67
Spurs: 22-60
Pistons: 14-68
Hornets: 21-61
Blazers 21-61
Grizzlies 27-55

That selective company


So how that team even made playoffs?

Well, bench had 2# best offensive rating in nba, 7th best net rating and 4th highest TS%


I still don't understand what "wing hub" supposed to mean? Like, honest question.
Is that offense where wing pretends he is PG but is stripped from any responsibility that actual PG would have to deal because "well, he ain't PG" ?

[bigdogdylan5]

All I can do is plead with you guys not to lose your damn minds. Of course our offense is struggling it’s a new system with a whole new backcourt and our starting point guard is only playing 20 mins when he does play. Yes Mosley has a lot of pressure on him but he should get time to try and get these guys to gel and figure it out.

No one's losing their minds, but after 3 games, it's the same as it's been for the last 4 years, 29th in offense, and 6th in defense. Players come here, and they suddenly can't hit open shots. Franz' shooting keeps getting worse each year.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using RealGM mobile app

lol sure everyone is completely fine. Go look at Bane’s shooting numbers game by game. He has bad shooting games but they even out your just focusing in on this BS mini (not even small) sample size. Hell even in the small sample size your wrong. Franz is shooting 36% from three I will be ecstatic if he can keep that up.

God knows there is **** to work on offensively. It’s extremely chaotic and nothing is meshing well. I just don’t know how a lot of people on this board thought it would just fix magically right away especially without Suggs. It’s going to take some time and yes if this doesn’t improve Mosely will be fired. And he should be but he deserves the chance to actually implement changes.-

[yoyojw17]

Hope these gut punches set them straight. sit down and understand what's going on.... and make the needed changes. These guys better be watching tape and taking the step forward if they truly want to be great. Better now than anything else.

[Bensational]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

Yeah, his game is built for the playoffs (even though he’s still largely inefficient by TS%) and will show its real value there.

I think this season will be the one where our guys really get a taste of just how locked in the whole team needs to be before training camp if they want to be a high end competitive team. They’ve got the pieces, now they need to understand how to make them all fit and work best.

[eyriq]

We were the 22nd ranked offense with 22 year old Franz and 21 year old Paolo as point forwards. They are now 24 and 23 with an elite volume three point shooter in Bane. Stick with the wing-hub offense and enjoy the extra juice we get from their greater experience and Bane's elite impact.

22nd ranked offense is pretty terrible, almost all teams behind us were blatantly tanking IIRC. And a large reason for us not being even worse than this was the bench units crushing it offensively when Ingles was the main ballhandler and Moe the center.

Anyway, Paolo is leading the team so far this season both in time of possession (by some margin) and in passes made. He is still the hub as much as there is one on the team.

Sent from my moto g84 5G using Tapatalk

Paolo freezes offense->players cant get shooting rhytm->teams pack the paint->Paolo has excuse for not passing the ball and not finishing at the rim->max contract.
Brilliant businessman but not a great first option
What does wing-hub offense even mean ? We beg Paolo to kick the ball on drives ? Right now the best idea would be to just stand in the corners and rest on offense while Paolo bricks shot after shot and then use all energy on defense. Thats Harden Rockets blueprint. Difference is Harden could shoot, pass and finish at the rim and his team was still worse than more egalitarian Warriors.

Winghub means .... WAIT FOR IT .... that wings are the primary playmakers in the offense.

[eyriq]

22# offense is dog*** offense.

Those are teams that were behind Magic that year:
Nets : 32-50
Raptors: 25-57
Wizards: 15-67
Spurs: 22-60
Pistons: 14-68
Hornets: 21-61
Blazers 21-61
Grizzlies 27-55

That selective company


So how that team even made playoffs?

Well, bench had 2# best offensive rating in nba, 7th best net rating and 4th highest TS%


I still don't understand what "wing hub" supposed to mean? Like, honest question.
Is that offense where wing pretends he is PG but is stripped from any responsibility that actual PG would have to deal because "well, he ain't PG" ?

The point is that 21 and 22 year olds set the floor for how good an offense can be built around them. They are entering their prime years and we've added to the core with the Bane trade. Continue to use them as the primary playmakers (the main idea of a winghub offense) and let the offense cook.

[zaymon]

22nd ranked offense is pretty terrible, almost all teams behind us were blatantly tanking IIRC. And a large reason for us not being even worse than this was the bench units crushing it offensively when Ingles was the main ballhandler and Moe the center.

Anyway, Paolo is leading the team so far this season both in time of possession (by some margin) and in passes made. He is still the hub as much as there is one on the team.

Sent from my moto g84 5G using Tapatalk

Paolo freezes offense->players cant get shooting rhytm->teams pack the paint->Paolo has excuse for not passing the ball and not finishing at the rim->max contract.
Brilliant businessman but not a great first option
What does wing-hub offense even mean ? We beg Paolo to kick the ball on drives ? Right now the best idea would be to just stand in the corners and rest on offense while Paolo bricks shot after shot and then use all energy on defense. Thats Harden Rockets blueprint. Difference is Harden could shoot, pass and finish at the rim and his team was still worse than more egalitarian Warriors.

Winghub means .... WAIT FOR IT .... that wings are the primary playmakers in the offense.

One of our wings plays best next to fast pg( world and european champion). Second was never efficient didnt win anything and leads one of the worst offenses for 3+ years.
What is our plan exactly ?