What to expect with Paolo Banchero's untimely absence from the Magic

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If your children went trick-or-treating last night and ended up with a lot of candy, I hope you raided what you need and continue to sneak back to steal some from time to time.

Looking (O)bleak

Magic star to miss at least 4-6 weeks

Paolo Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn right oblique, the Magic announced yesterday. He’s officially out indefinitely but will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks. In the press release, the team even put this ominous note that “his return to play will depend on how he responds to treatment.” Banchero just had his first career 50-point game in a win over the Pacers on Monday. Then, he had 31 points during Wednesday’s loss to the Bulls, during which he suffered the oblique injury in the fourth quarter. To sum it up in two words: This sucks.

It’s so early, but Banchero has mostly been off to the start you would hope for from him. The 21-year-old has had three really good games and two so-so games. He’s averaging 29 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and only 2.2 turnovers, and he’s got 49.5/34.4/64.4 shooting splits. Orlando has started 3-2 and plays its recent playoff nemesis, the 5-0 Cleveland Cavaliers, tonight. We know Banchero is out for roughly a month, though, so let’s answer some questions about what this means:

What is the range of games Banchero should expect to miss? If he misses six weeks, we’re looking at roughly 22 absences. He would come back during that stretch of games before the end of the NBA Cup. If it’s on the lower end of that range at four weeks, we’re looking at about 15 games — returning roughly at Thanksgiving.

How does the schedule look during that time? The six-week range has him missing roughly 13 road games. This is a pretty tough stretch with two big road trips for Orlando, and few projected easy games based on opponents.

 

Who needs to step up during this time? Other than everybody? You won’t see his scoring easily replaced. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs are Orlando’s two leading scorers after Banchero. The Magic need to disperse that 31 percent usage rate Banchero has, but they also just don’t have much scoring. Anthony Black could see an expanded role. The Magic will have to make games super ugly and just stick to their defensive mentality.

Are the Magic doomed? No. Lucky for them, the East is still weak on the back half. Milwaukee is struggling a ton. Philadelphia hasn’t been healthy yet. Miami is off to a weird start. Orlando, even if it struggles without Banchero, should still be in a solid Play-In Tournament position when he comes back. It would of course be better if he’s only out four weeks, though. Last season, Orlando finished in the East after going 47-35 in the regular season. The Magic should be fine.

Who is the greatest magician ever? Gob Bluth, of course.

The Last 24

Scary strategies and costume candidates

😱 LaMelo Ball got in a pregame fight on Halloween! Sort of! Don’t try to scare the Hornets star. 

🎶 Don’t just play the hits! The key to a great sports video game soundtrack is the gems they uncover. Here’s how it happens.

🏀 Bucks getting healthy? Milwaukee (1-4) could get Khris Middleton back soon! It’s trending positively. 

🎃 Wemby’s costume stressed us out. He went as No Face, but how is he moving?

📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. The Nuggets (2-2) will visit the Timberwolves (2-2) in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals. Check it out at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN and on Fubo.

Worry Meter

Should you be worried about the Bucks yet?

It’s absolutely too early to worry about NBA teams. I guarantee that. We have so much season left to play, and some teams are going to get going in no time. With that said, we’re busting out the old Worry Meter to see if it is, in fact, acceptable to already worry about certain teams.

The Worry Meter is an incredibly sophisticated, scientific measuring system that gives you up-to-the-second readings on whether you should worry about a basketball team less than two weeks into the season. We’ve used all of our available resources to fine-tune this machine. It would take years of studying biometrics and astrophysics to understand how it works. Yes, it’s an emoji scale of one (lowest worry) to five (highest).

76ers | 1-3 | 26th-ranked offense | 17th-ranked defense

Philly is off to a really slow start, losing to Milwaukee, Toronto and Detroit. The Raptors and Pistons losses are pretty bad. This team flat-out can’t score in the first week or so of the season. But that feels easily explainable with Joel Embiid and Paul George still waiting to make their season debuts. That’s why I’m not worried about the 76ers very much yet. We still need to see what they look like on the floor together when PG and Embiid are back, making it a lot easier for Tyrese Maxey to operate. At the same time, my expectations for the Sixers are much lower because of their playoff history, so there’s less to worry about with them.

Worry Meter: 😱😱

Bucks | 1-4 | 24th-ranked offense | 23rd-ranked defense

The Bucks just got blown out in Memphis, which isn’t crazy with the Grizzlies having a good team when they’re healthy. The problem is the Bucks have looked terrible to start this season, and, as much as I like Khris Middleton, I do not think it should be this bad without him. Not when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard playing. Their only win is against a Sixers team missing two of the top guys in the league. Maybe Doc Rivers is trying to get fired? Maybe they’re tanking?

Worry Meter: 😱😱😱😱

Nuggets | 2-2 | 17th-ranked offense | 20th-ranked defense

I’ll fully admit Nikola Jokić is the only thing keeping me from burying this team way too early. This used to be a free-flowing offense that inspired basketball excellence. It’s now clunky. The Nuggets are an absolute disaster when Jokić isn’t on the floor. Jamal Murray still looks like he did in the playoffs (that’s not a good thing). I’m not quite sure what Michael Porter Jr. does here. Nobody has filled Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s absence. The Worry Meter is higher than it normally would be at this point, but the West is so loaded that I’m not certain this team avoids the Play-In.

Worry Meter: 😱😱😱

Heat | 2-2 | 20th-ranked offense | 14th-ranked defense

No, this has nothing to do with the Dwyane Wade statue. I was a big “Frasier” fan, so I like it regardless. I just look at this Heat team and wonder where the offense is going to come from consistently. The Heat decided to stand pat this past summer, but the rest of the East didn’t. We don’t know where that breakout role player will come from for them. Normally, I believe in the Heat until they prove me wrong, but this Miami offense is brutal to watch.

Worry Meter: 😱😱😱😱

Pelicans | 2-3 | 27th-ranked offense | 18th-ranked defense

Yes, they’re missing Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray. But they still have Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. This is not the Williamson we were expecting to see right away. It feels like they desperately need a table-setter. Maybe that’s Williamson, like with the point forward role he had last year. Maybe that’s moving someone on the roster for better balance. Maybe that’s Murray coming back from injury. Regardless, I think their fix is easy with a trade.

Worry Meter: 😱😱😱

Wemby’s 5×5

Wembanyama joins Olajuwon in all-time feats

Two nights ago, Victor Wembanyama had the worst game of his young NBA career in a highly anticipated showdown with Chet Holmgren. He played again last night, helping the Spurs secure a pretty easy 106-88 victory over the winless Jazz. He made up for his six points and one basket against the Thunder by creating even more history for himself and the NBA against the Jazz.

Wemby had 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocks. That’s known as a 5×5 — when a player has at least five points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks in a single game. It’s happened 23 times in NBA history. Twelve players have done it once in their career.

Wemby joined Hakeem Olajuwon (six) and Andrei Kirilenko (three) as the only players in league history to do it multiple times. He joined Olajuwon as the only other player to have multiple 25-5-5-5-5 games in history. Wemby, 20, is in the second week of his second season. He’s played 76 games. Oh, and by the way, he was plus-43 in an 18-point win. WTF 🤯

Elsewhere last night:

Grizzlies 122 (3-3), Bucks 99 (1-4): The Bucks are in trouble. You read that above. The Grizzlies are trouble, apparently. Ja Morant had 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds as Memphis demolished the Bucks. Ja even threw an alley-oop while sitting on the ground.

Rockets 108 (3-2), Mavericks 102 (3-2): It took Jalen Green a little bit to get going, but he helped close out this very impressive win for the Rockets in Dallas. And they held down everybody not named Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. However! Congratulations to Klay Thompson for making the 2,500th 3-pointer of his career. He’s 60 behind Reggie Miller for fifth place in NBA history.

Suns 125 (4-1), Clippers 119 (2-3): The Clippers were all over the Suns in the first half. Phoenix made its first 15 shots in the third quarter to get back into it. Devin Booker dominated in this one with 40 points. The Suns are enjoying a strong start and have played four of their first five games against L.A. teams.

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(Top photo: Michael Reaves  / Getty Images )





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About The Author

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Ronda Baker is a news writer who specializes in arts, automotive, travel, and fashion. She has been writing since she was a child, and her passion for the written word has only grown since then.

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