Paolo Banchero Out Indefinitely with a Torn Oblique. Reevaluated in 4-6 Weeks.

[MasterGMer]

For the tanking advocate here, even if we land one of the Top picks in this year's deep draft, how are we going to afford the team including two Max extension with Paolo and Franz, plus 30M per year average for Suggs AND paying Wendell, JI and KCP. Also what about AB and Jett's rookie extension?

Simply put, let's say we have Cooper Flagg. He would be on rookie contract for the next 4 years. Then we trade away Franz or Paolo when the rookie max extension kicks in? While extending AB and Jett if they produce like we expect?

That is not going to work in the new CBA and Salary Cap.

Tanking kills the team's any momentum we have got for the last 2 years and the losing culture will be devastating for the team growth. It would be a nightmare and kill the credibility of Mosley's influence in the locker room or commanding the team.

Yes we land another star, all star or even super star. Sounds pretty, right? But the price for it WILL BE HUGE!

If we purely look at it in a team building perspective, I think trying to win as many games as we want and maximize any young assets or pieces we have will benefit the process plus team building also, in a cost preventive way.

We are still on track. And this year even with Paolo's injury, we can still be competitive because we have so much talent.

Trying to tank the whole season is disruptive and costly. Also let's grow internally and imo we are just one or two big trades away from contention

[shadrock]

We are definitely not bad enough to tank. Let's not be silly and have these talks right now lol. Last thing we need is more young guys to try to work into the team.

We have Cole and pick, and we could get Cam Johnson here. I'm interested to see how TDS and Goga will look getting some of Paolo's minutes. TDS and Franz could speak German to each other on the court to have an advantage.

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You want to burn a first round pick for a black hole on offence who would ruin every bit of the team first mentality we have started to build? Please no.

[Def Swami]

Devastating injury. There's a good chance he's going to be out longer than the 4-6 weeks. I doubt we see him the rest of 2024. He should take his time with it and make sure it heals completely. Even after that, it's going to take some additional time for him to get into game shape. That's a lot of games to overcome in a very competitive playoff race. Our depth is truly going to be tested. It's going to be a very rough couple of months. Just super unfortunate.

[RookieStar]

Respect to PB... he gutted it out even with the injury. Sacrifice was in vain BUT he showed he isnt a quitter like some stars in the leagur * cough cough*

[Audi]

Read on Twitter

[VFX]

Terrible

[Def Swami]

With all that said, Franz Wagner got a max extension for a reason. Suggs is going to get more shots. This is a chance for Cole Anthony to get back into the rotation. Excited to see Anthony Black get tossed more into the fire. Great opportunity for guys to step up here.

[basketballRob]

For the tanking advocate here, even if we land one of the Top picks in this year's deep draft, how are we going to afford the team including two Max extension with Paolo and Franz, plus 30M per year average for Suggs AND paying Wendell, JI and KCP. Also what about AB and Jett's rookie extension?

Simply put, let's say we have Cooper Flagg. He would be on rookie contract for the next 4 years. Then we trade away Franz or Paolo when the rookie max extension kicks in? While extending AB and Jett if they produce like we expect?

That is not going to work in the new CBA and Salary Cap.

Tanking kills the team's any momentum we have got for the last 2 years and the losing culture will be devastating for the team growth. It would be a nightmare and kill the credibility of Mosley's influence in the locker room or commanding the team.

Yes we land another star, all star or even super star. Sounds pretty, right? But the price for it WILL BE HUGE!

If we purely look at it in a team building perspective, I think trying to win as many games as we want and maximize any young assets or pieces we have will benefit the process plus team building also, in a cost preventive way.

We are still on track. And this year even with Paolo's injury, we can still be competitive because we have so much talent.

Trying to tank the whole season is disruptive and costly. Also let's grow internally and imo we are just one or two big trades away from contention

I doubt we tank, but we probably aren't going to make trades to win either. We'll just be what we are. We'll likely lose all these all these road games coming up. I think we could fight and possibly make the play-in.

The silver lining for the Magic's cap situation is that Paolo is not likely to get the super max extension now. Also, some of the other players could get a chance.

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[ogmagicfan]

Really sucks for Paolo because he was likely going to make All-NBA and get a deserved Supermax contract

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

I remember that play. I thought he was grabbing his groin.

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[Redwood]

With all that said, Franz Wagner got a max extension for a reason. Suggs is going to get more shots. This is a chance for Cole Anthony to get back into the rotation. Excited to see Anthony Black get tossed more into the fire. Great opportunity for guys to step up here.

Cole is a me first, selfish player. That has always been true and always will be, that kind of mentality doesn't just go away. Giving him a bigger role again is not a positive in the slightest, it's a major step back. Sit his ass on the bench where he belongs and give our young guys minutes. If PB is out for a lengthy stretch then something needs to be salvaged from this season, and that's getting our young guys valuable experience. It's NOT giving Cole Anthony an opportunity to show how much he loves isolation and jacking three point shots up from 40 ft out with a hand in his face. We know what he brings and we should want none of it, his usage going forward will tell us all we need to know about the competency of our front office and coaching staff.

[rcklsscognition]

I’d be running AB/Suggs/Franz/Moe/WCJ and backups be Cole/KCP/Jett/JI/Goga. I’d probably get fired but Moe and Cole are the only other two players on the roster that will try to score themselves. Everyone else needs an assist.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Oh my heart. Praying for him. I know this Magic organization will not rush him back, we want to make sure that he is completely healthy. And He will definitely be working on the mental side too. Hopefully JI and Jalen can coach him through all of that. I also know that a Mosley led team does not quit. And who knows, maybe this will be better for the team so that they can show up in high pressure games.

[basketballRob]

I’d be running AB/Suggs/Franz/Moe/WCJ and backups be Cole/KCP/Jett/JI/Goga. I’d probably get fired but Moe and Cole are the only other two players on the roster that will try to score themselves. Everyone else needs an assist.

I don't think turning Cole loose will make us any better in the long run. I'd rather see Goga or TDS in the rotation

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[basketballRob]

I want to see what TDS and Goga both getting 20 mpg during this road trip.

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[Howard Mass]

This is very bad news especially on Halloween.

You got to hope The Magic's depth can get them through this stretch and that Paolo can return in 4-6 weeks.

Look for The Magic to play some smaller lineups moving forward.

[eyriq]

I'm curious to see how the team performs in his absence. On one hand, he's not a key driver of our defense. We should still be a top five defensive team without him. Hell, if JI plays starters minutes? We could be better defensively.

Now, offensively, we have a lot of possessions that need a home. Who picks up the slack? Franz and Suggs for starters, of course. We are going to see Franz hitting 27-28 percent usage, and Suggs hitting 23-24 percent usage, on the regular, right?

Moe is going to need a bigger role, he loves eating up possessions. WCJ will up his usage.

I think we can hover around .500.

[MasterGMer]

I don't think Cole is a selfish player, it is just his playing style. He is our sixth man of the team, nothing wrong with it.

I want to see Cole improving and he can be a machine in getting us buckets. But this start of the season, he seemed disengaged. Which could explain his missing shots.

But it is time now with Paolo out. We need Cole's scoring in the second unit

[3ddman23]

Damn man this sucks. We don't have food forward depth. I'm not sure how they move forward now. This could derail the season pretty bad...

[basketballRob]

Cole has had a chance for 4 years and the playoffs last season. AB and Jett have moved ahead of him in the rotation. Playing Cole for some of Paolo minutes will only make us smaller.

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