ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic joined a list of teams whose seasons have ended after falling to the Detroit Pistons on May 3 in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.

In the series, Magic forward Paolo Banchero experienced both high and low points. In Orlando’s Game 5 loss, he went head-to-head with Pistons star guard Cade Cunningham in a duel where both players put up a playoff career-high 45 points. 

Then, in Game 6, Banchero shot just 4-20 from the field in a game where the Magic suffered a historic collapse amid a record-setting shooting slump after leading by as many as 24 points.

Banchero was able to respond in Game 7 with 38 points, nine rebounds and six assists, but his team ultimately fell short. In the subsequent postgame press conference, Banchero was honest about the state of the team and made it clear that they were not currently good enough to reach their goals.

The Magic wasted no time making their first big offseason move when news dropped that the organization was parting ways with head coach Jamahl Mosley after five seasons. After Mosley’s firing, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman met with the media to discuss the decision and several other topics, one of which was his evaluation of Banchero.

"Yeah, sometimes I think we lose sight," Weltman said. "Because I think when you take a 3-1 lead, you know, in the playoffs, you kind of lose sight of just, you know, our youth and even like our main guys are still learning. There's a lot of new experience that they're, you know, processing, you know. And I think, you know, we've been in the playoffs.

"We're, I think, one of eight teams to be in the playoffs the last three years," he added. "And with a team this young, I think that's a good starting place. But I think Paolo is really hard on himself.

He's really competitive. He's really driven. He's a great learner."

It was an up and down season for Banchero overall. Prior to the All-Star break, he did not look like the type of athletic and imposing force that he had been in seasons past, which led to him missing out on what could have been his second All-Star selection.

Banchero took accountability and demonstrated better play after the break, and he finished the season averaging less points (22.2 points) than he did in the 2024-25 season (25.9 points) but his rebounding average and shooting percentage from the field ticked upward slightly.

"I think that our group is really attached," Weltman said. "And I think that they believe, you know, Paolo, I think, shows you who he is in the playoffs, you know. So, you know, some of this, as I always come back to, is like, you know, we have to look at ourselves, our roster construction, everything else.

"But I think it starts in the summer and it builds out through the season. And I think Paolo is going to have a great year next year."

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