The Orlando Magic have severely underperformed this season despite massive offseason moves, including trading a large chunk of future draft capital for Desmond Bane and signing star Paolo Banchero to a massive contract extension that set up their “core four” for years to come.

At 32-28 and atop the Southeast Division, the Magic may appear to coast. The reality tells a different story. The team continues to struggle internally and externally after preseason expectations placed them near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Coach Jamahl Mosley has consistently blamed losses on effort and consistency.

With the Magic’s struggles now on display, new reports point to a disconnect between star Paolo Banchero and Mosley that may weigh on the team’s on-court performance.

The report comes from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon, who touched up on the recent rumors.

“Paolo Banchero came into the postgame press conference and was asked why opponents were handling the Magic in the second half,” Windhorst said.” He said, quote: "Just being more organized, being able to communicate with each other what we're trying to do. Teams a lot of times adjust at halftime, and I think that's why we struggled a lot in the second half because we don't really adjust to their adjustments." Oops.”

“Essentially, it was the star player calling out the coach, and the coach calling out the star player. This happens to be the star player and the head coach, and it's a team that's underachieving,” Windhorst added. “Although they had been playing better recently, it's a team that's heavily invested in this season and is underachieving. Granted, they have had injury problems, but a lot of teams have injury problems. They've had this unfortunate thing with Franz Wagner, who just can't get over this ankle issue, he's been down with it three different times. But all that said, we have a guy on a $200 million contract and the head coach now at open odds with each other. It's not in the shadows anymore; it's now wide out in the open.”

There is little doubt the Magic need to get it together quickly. In situations like this, the best remedy often comes from getting and staying in the win column.

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