5 Reasons Why Paolo Banchero Should Make An All-NBA Team

Prior to this year, there were 101 instances of a player averaging 22-plus points, six-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and one-plus steals in a season. In 86 of them, which is 85.1 percent of the time, the player that reached those minimum marks made an All-NBA team – 59 made the first team, 18 made the second team, and nine made the third team.

Adding to that, of the 32 total players that have ever logged those numbers, which goes back to when steals first started getting tracked in 1973-74, 27 made an All-NBA team at least once (84.4 percent). 

If this season ends with Paolo Banchero having those minimum numbers – right now he’s at 22.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and one steal – it would be just the sixth time a player under 22 years old accomplished that. 

In five of those instances, the player made an All-NBA team. Those players are Michael Jordan, LeBron James (twice) and Luka Doncic (twice). The only one who didn’t make an All-NBA team while posting those stats this young was LaMelo Ball last season, but he only played in 36 games. 

Several All-NBA caliber players have already been disqualified for All-NBA consideration because they won’t reach the minimum requirement of at least 65 games played. They include Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, Trae Young and Kyrie Irving. There’s a chance both Karl-Anthony Towns and Scottie Barnes won’t be eligible. Barnes is out indefinitely with a fractured hand, and to this point, he’s only played in 60 games. Towns, meanwhile, who’s also played in 60 games, recently had knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. 

Right now, the only two players currently averaging under 20 points with a legitimate chance of making an All-NBA team are Bam Adebayo and Rudy Gobert. Adebayo is averaging 19.9 points, while Gobert is the frontrunner to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. There are 21 players, including Banchero, averaging 20-plus points who have appeared in 50-plus games and were named an All-Star this season. Towns and Young are two of them. So, in total, there should only be 21 legit candidates for the 15 spots. It’s rare for a player that wasn’t an All-Star to make an All-NBA team. The only ones this season that you could argue for are Gobert, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Victor Wembanyama and DeMar DeRozan. 

The first team is likely going to consist of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic. Kevin Durant, LeBron, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards, we would assume, are locks as well. From there, we have four spots left. Among those remaining 11 All-Star players, Banchero is the only one that is, without question, the best player on a top four team in their respective conference. Most of the remaining candidates are just hoping to avoid the play-in tournament (examples include Devin Booker, Anthony Davis and Tyrese Maxey). The same goes for a few of those aforementioned non-All-Star players. Obviously, the San Antonio Spurs with Wembanyama are already out of postseason contention. 

In the last two minutes of regulation or an overtime with the score differential within three (ahead, behind or tied), Banchero is tied for the third-most shot attempts with 27 of them and has made 13 of them (48.2 percent).  

There are 26 players who have taken at least 15 shots in these time and score circumstances. Paolo’s 48.2 percent is the fifth-best mark among them. The only players with higher percentages (among those 26 players) are DeRozan, Gilgeous-Alexander, Curry and Jokic. 

Banchero has also made six of his 10 shot attempts in the final 30 seconds of regulation or an overtime with the score differential within three (ahead, behind or tied). Only Curry and DeRozan have taken more shots in these time and score circumstances. Paolo’s 60 percent is the best mark among those three (Curry’s is 46.7 percent and DeRozan’s is 38.5 percent). 

Three of those four misses for Paolo came in a game in Miami on Jan. 12 after making a pair of clutch shots, and the other was a 3-point attempt in double-OT in Sacramento on Jan. 3 that would have tied it. Earlier that game, he made a few pressure-packed shots to extend the game. His makes include game winners in Utah (Nov. 2), Chicago (Nov. 15) and Detroit (Feb. 24). He also had a tying 3-pointer in Atlanta on Jan. 17 before Dejounte Murray hit a winning jumper at the buzzer. 

One of the biggest pre-draft fallacies in NBA history was tied to Banchero’s defense. Many said he was a weak defender coming out of Duke in 2022. That has been absolutely wrong. He’s a big reason why the Magic currently have the league’s third-best defense.

There have been 21 players who have contested at least 300 3-point attempts this season, per Second Spectrum. Banchero is one of them with 313 3-point contests. Opponents, in these situations, are shooting 33.8 percent against Banchero’s contest, seventh-lowest among those 21 players. 

Banchero, often, has to guard one of the other team’s top players. He’s done well in these matchups. Just some examples of how others have shot with him as the nearest defender from anywhere on the floor, per Second Spectrum:

Jayson Tatum: 2-of-8

Jaylen Brown: 3-of-12

Julius Randle: 5-of-13

Kawhi Leonard: 1-of-6

Donovan Mitchell: 3-of-10

Devin Booker: 2-of-5

Tyrese Maxey: 1-of-5

Tobias Harris: 2-of-6

Miles Bridges: 6-of-15

The Magic are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. They’ve won five in a row and 19 of their last 25 games. Since Jan. 28, only the Boston Celtics have a better record than the Magic. 

At 42-28, it’s the first time since March 2012 that Orlando is 14 games over .500. They are just 1 ½ games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers for third place in the East and three games back of the Milwaukee Bucks for second place. 

The bottom line is, everything changed when Banchero arrived in the summer of 2022. Last season, they made a 12-win jump from the prior year. They already have won eight more games than last year, and with 12 games remaining, there’s a chance for them to reach 50 wins, which for a young team like the Magic is quite astonishing. 

Banchero has led this surge. He’s making a massive impact just by being extraordinarily versatile. He creates for himself; he creates for others; he draws fouls; he orchestrates the offense; he’s an improved outside shooter; he handles the ball like a guard; he runs the break in transition; and he uses his blend of size and instincts to play great defense. There aren’t many players – past or present – that do as much as he does at 6-foot-10, 250-pounds. He has two triple-doubles this season, including one Thursday night in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Kia Center.

Teams that have an elite jumbo playmaker are thriving in the league right now. Last season, all four conference finals teams had one (Jokic, Adebayo, Tatum and LeBron). It’s no different this year. Those four, along with Antetokounmpo, Banchero, and Williamson have their teams high up in the standings. What makes Orlando even more unique is that it has a second high-end jumbo playmaker in Franz Wagner.