[Official] Paolo Banchero as a ORL Magic thread

mario_v · Feb 4, 2025

What’s going on with banchero? He’s on that Julius Randle trajectory.

zeeshan2 · Jan 2, 2026

It’s amazing how much has changed in three years. Think back to the 2022 NBA All-Star Game: Three precocious young point guards — the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant and the Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball — made the squad and played on the same team in Cleveland.

In each case, the future for both player and team seemed bright, but fast forward to 2025, and that’s not the case. Young’s Hawks made the Eastern Conference finals in 2021, Ball’s Hornets won 43 games in 2022 and Morant’s Grizzlies were the second seed in the Western Conference in consecutive seasons. Unbelievably, none of the three have won a playoff series since 2022. This doesn’t look like the year the streak will end, with the Hawks and Grizzlies in Play-In territory and Ball’s Hornets again headed for the draft lottery.

Similarly, all three have seen their career trajectories go sideways, even if it’s happened more in slow motion than in one rapid swoon. Injuries have plagued all three, but unserious defense and stalled development trajectories are also to blame. Ball has been the topic of trade rumors and even a rumored trade demand; Young is a potential free agent this summer whose team has made no serious move toward extending his contract; Morant’s unreliability was a key factor in Memphis’ offseason reset, and he’s already been suspended by his own team this season.

There might be other individual players who have been more disappointing this season, but as a class, the Southern point guard trio has moved into a league of its own. As a result, those three top my All-Disappointment Team for 2025-26.

My squad is a list of players who have done the most to fall short of our hopes and expectations, however misplaced they might have been. While I focused more on significant players on big contracts, I sprinkled in a few middle-class guys and developmental cases as well.

We’re barely one-third of the way into an 82-game season. Things can and do change, and inevitably, some players will play themselves off this list. But as 2026 begins, here are the envelopes. (Stats as of Wednesday afternoon.)

NBA All-Disappointment Team:

Ja Morant

LaMelo Ball

Trae Young

Darius Garland

Paolo Banchero

Draymond Green

Jared McCain

Herb Jones

Cam Johnson

Guerschon Yabusele

Indiana’s Youth

Click to expand...

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6930954/2026/01/01/nba-season-2025-2026-disappointments/

wlekfjv923n · Jan 2, 2026

zeeshan2 said: ↑

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6930954/2026/01/01/nba-season-2025-2026-disappointments/
Click to expand...

Things can change quick in the NBA. A second year averaging 20 PPG doesn't auto translate to a superstar. Young players regress all the time. Amen developing a jump shot and becoming all-NBA is not a given. YOu just appreciate what you have right now, and hope these players have the love for the game to keep improving

daywalker02 · Jan 3, 2026

Hasn't he dealt with moderately severe injuries two years in a row?

wlekfjv923n said: ↑

Things can change quick in the NBA. A second year averaging 20 PPG doesn't auto translate to a superstar. Young players regress all the time. Amen developing a jump shot and becoming all-NBA is not a given. YOu just appreciate what you have right now, and hope these players have the love for the game to keep improving
Click to expand...

daywalker02 · Jan 8, 2026 at 5:23 AM

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[Official] Paolo Banchero as a ORL Magic thread

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