ORLANDO - When examining the top rookies from the 2022-23 NBA season, there are several things that separate the Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero from his peers.
The most obvious are the statistics, which are detailed here.
But it’s not just about the numbers.
Unlike anyone else you want to toss into the Rookie of the Year conversation, Banchero, despite being just 20 years old, is almost always at the top of the opposing team’s scouting report.
Team must devise game plans with him, first and foremost, in mind.
That’s extremely rare to say about a rookie.
There’s nobody else in this rookie class where that applies.
Jalen Williams has been playing very well for the Oklahoma City Thunder lately, but let’s keep it real, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is at the top of every opponent’s scouting report. He is the one that scares other teams the most. That’s not to throw shade at Williams, as he is very talented.
Another rookie thriving right now is Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz. He’s already one of the best interior defenders in the entire league and could be a DPOY in the future. But when you play the Jazz, Lauri Markkanen is the one teams are most focused on when creating their game plans.
You can keep going down the list. Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers has been excellent, but without a doubt, Tyrese Haliburton is at the top of Indiana’s depth chart. Jaden Ivey has also been impressive, but for most of the year, Bojan Bogdanovic has been the Detroit Pistons’ best player. Keegan Murray is a great shooter on a great team, but the Sacramento Kings, of course, are led by De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
And it’s not like the Magic are pushovers. They are 24-23 after starting the season 5-20.
Now, this is not to suggest that Banchero is by far and away Orlando’s best player right now. The Magic do things by committee. So, one night maybe it’s Banchero leading the way; the next game maybe it’s someone else like Franz Wagner, or Wendell Carter Jr., or Markelle Fultz, or Cole Anthony. The bottom line, though, is that opponents are looking to prevent Banchero from having a spectacular performance because they know how capable he is of having one if they don’t get creative to try and get him out of his comfort zone.
Another player that right from the jump was the main focal point was Grant Hill. He was a rookie in the 1994-95 season with the Pistons after they selected him third overall in the draft. Just by re-watching some Pistons games from that season, it was obvious how opponents had to come up with ways to neutralize Hill and force others to beat them.
What’s interesting about that, too, is that Jason Kidd, now the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks who shared the Rookie of the Year Award with Hill in 1995, earlier this season compared Banchero to Hill.
“He reminds me of Grant Hill,” Kidd said in November when the Mavs visited the Magic. “His ability to handle, bring it (up the court and) to be able to shoot the middy at a high rate. He is always under control. Someone at his size and to be able to bring the ball up and do the things that he has done so far, and he will only get better, so that’s why I give him high praise of being Rookie of the Year right now. He has to be the favorite because of the things that he is doing.”