That is not the face of a man thrilled to be going to Orlando.... Poor guy had a 1,000 yard stare all night.
Honestly he will have a better chance to be the go to scorer on Orlando. When the draft order came out I felt like Orlando was one of the teams that had a good chance of picking Banchero, then all of the reports came out and I started accepting the offensive duo of Banchero and Green but wondered if we'd be maximizing Banchero's talents. He should get over it pretty quickly. I don't feel bad for him one bit. He is the #1 overall pick and if he thinks he's a mismatch for anyone and an alpha then he should go into the situation believing he can change the franchise
Hey Paolo, Your first contract is only four years long. Houston is waiting for you. You can also demand a trade.
Him and Jabari got slapped with the reality of real nba life. Interpersonal relationships and verbal commitments had them in their feels about where they were going and it got turned upside down in a minute. At least they learned how it is now rather than later
We came out the best because we got Jabari and Paolo knows we would love to have him! We have a relationship with him in the future in the remote chance he really does want to leave and we are a viable option
To the small extent I'm actually being serious, I mean more in the sense that he was pretty obviously shook and disappointed during the majority of the draft, when it should have been one of the best nights of his life, etc. I don't feel bad for him in the sense that he is now a rich person who is awesome at basketball going to a place where he'll be featured, etc.
I was pretty shocked, and both Paolo and Jabari looked pissed most of the night. But the emotional coaster highlight to me was MarJon Beauchamp, after saying he wanted the Rockets and was extremely grateful to them because they were the only ones who attended his workout, get some love from a team, even if it was the Bucks. It was a very emotional draft I think, at least more than usual, IMO.
I kept thinking the same last night. I’m sure he’s happy to be getting drafted 1st overall but think about how it all unfolded leading to the pick. 1. He delayed his workout/interviews on multiple occasions, most likely to avoid being drafted by the Magic 2. He was in tight communication with Jalen throughout the process about the possibility of joining him and KPJ in Houston 3. He wore an all purple suit for Gods sakes! We all know H-Town is known for being the city of purp. It would have been fitting if he ended up in Houston 4. The Magic really botched this in terms of making this feel like a “their guy” pick. It seems like they either used Bari as a ploy to throw people off Paolo or they just changed their mind last minute. Either way it doesn’t make sense because they were drafting #1 overall. If the Rockets or Thunder would have been the ones playing koy to throw each other off that would have been one thing, but neither did that at all. The Thunder got Chet and the Rockets took whoever was left out of the 3 bigs as anticipated. This whole process just had to have been really stupid for Paolo from his perspective and I can imagine he’s a bit perturbed by all the semantics leading up to going 1 overall.
True, but Bari still managed a smile for the NBA's promotional photo. Think about how many pics they must have taken and this is the one posted on NBA.com...
No I get it... I just don't feel bad for him at all lol It really will be a time he looks back at as an opportunity, but only if he makes it that way. It's just about the player's mentality. Smith had more reason to be upset, but he immediately went in "prove them wrong" mode. It's a mentality you have to have to be great.
Makes you wonder... If Banchero is playing in the playoffs and not getting the calls he is used to, will he pout and cry or will he figure it out during the game?
Definitely. Have you seen his "hype" video, released on the Magic twitter account a little while ago? Looks like a plea for help.
I don’t really feel bad for him. Ivey went all-in with telling the Kings he didn’t want to be drafted by them. Banchero could have done the same.
I feel bad because I would've loved to have him on the Rockets because he genuinely looked excited to be here. Imagine someone going #1 instead of #3 and not being happy about it, that's mad and shows just how much he liked the thought of being a Rocket. 4 years Paolo, just 4 years Edit* this might read like I am sad we got Jabari. I'm not. I didn't get attached to anyone before the draft so this is fine for me.