Why Paolo Banchero Must Recapture Superstardom Next Season

As the 2026-27 NBA season approaches, this may be the most important one of Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero’s young career.

Banchero is about to be making serious, star-level money as his rookie extension kicks in, and he will be counted on to lead this team further than it has gone in recent seasons. To do that, Banchero is going to need to be the best version of himself.

After winning Rookie of the Year and following that accomplishment up with his first All-Star selection, Banchero has not earned any honors since. Between injuries in the 2024-25 season and inconsistencies last season, he has fallen short of being named an All-Star both times.

At times, Banchero has looked the part of being a superstar and the face of the franchise, but he has not been able to put his potential together in a way that has such a designation permanently attached to his name. Next season, he has to show that he can become worthy of the title.

Recently, I talked with my colleague RJ Saunders of 1010XL Magic about what Banchero must accomplish. Below is what I had to say:

"I think that an All-Star has to be the floor. That's the bare minimum here, right? This is someone who had comparisons to LeBron James, just in the way that he would play. At the peak of his powers, his young powers that we've seen, and some of the plays that he made when he came into the league as a leaner, kind of power-forward-style player, he was drawing comparisons to LeBron. 

Now, I wrote about this recently too, nobody is LeBron. The type of longevity that he has put forward over nearly a generation's worth of time playing NBA basketball, that may never get replicated again. Paolo can do his best to try and recapture some of those comparisons, and by slimming down and building muscle, it's hard to stop a 6 '10 frame, you know, of his caliber, of his skill caliber, when he's at his best. And there were times last year where he looked slow and indecisive, and the good thing about Paolo is he acknowledged all of his shortcomings. He acknowledged why he didn't become an All-Star.

He acknowledged when he played poorly in that first play-in tournament game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He is doing the intangible things right that great players need to do, and now he's putting things together tangibly, off the court, in the weight room, you know, so on and so forth, in his private practice sessions, and now we are going to see it come all together. But yeah, RJ, I mean, All-Star, he has to get back to that point.

He has to because if he doesn't, if he's not hitting that potential that he is more than capable of, then this team is not going to go as far as it wants to."