Orlando Magic Give No. 1 Pick Paolo Banchero An Odd NBA Introduction

Paolo Banchero did not know, he said, that he would be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft until about 20 seconds before commissioner Adam Silver announced the selection. For weeks, the presumption has been that Orlando had zeroed in on Jabari Smith Jr. as the top pick, with center Chet Holmgren the darkhorse to be No. 1. It was only in the last few days, and on Wednesday in particular, that some cracks in that presumption showed.

“I didn’t find out, though, that I was actually getting picked until about 20 seconds before the commissioner got on the stage,” Banchero said. “I didn’t even have time to really think about it or anything. It just kind of happened.”

Thus concluded one of the strangest No. 1-pick processes in recent NBA draft memory. Banchero, of course, did not work out for the Magic, who had Smith and Holmgren in for workouts instead. The Magic willingly allowed the narrative that Smith would go first to blossom and take hold around the league, such that even Banchero, as he said, had no idea what was coming until Silver was ready to call his name.

In explaining the Orlando cloak-and-dagger approach, team president Jeff Weltman explained that, “When you are playing poker, you don’t put your cards on the table.”

Fair enough. But that raises the question: Against whom were the Magic playing poker? Maybe there was some jockeying for position when it came to the No. 1 pick, and if the Magic front office was considering trading away the pick in the weeks since it won the lottery in May, it did well to conceal it. Certainly, not letting out the fact that Banchero would be going to Orlando appears to have been important to the Magic. We just don’t know why.

Weltman and Co. have every right to play their choice close to the vest, and the misdirection on Banchero was effective in that just about every observer of the NBA had penciled in Smith atop their draft boards.

Jeff Weltman For The Defense

Weltman, before taking questions from the media, took a minute to offer a defense against some of the questions he surely saw coming.

“I did want to say something before we began,” Weltman said. “I know there is a lot being made right now that Paolo didn’t come in to visit, I just want to let everyone know, we have had several touchpoints with Paolo, in live meetings, on Zooms, and Paolo has been very forthcoming to submitting to all of our protocols from medical to personality profiles and everything else we have asked for.”

Another was the fact that the Magic had nudged everyone to believe Smith was their man.

“Guys,” Weltman said, “there’s a lot of strategy that goes into the draft. There’s a lot of secret-keeping, there is a lot of misdirection. Paolo has always expressed a great interest in us. … We were super-comfortable with the process and most importantly, thrilled to have him on the team.”

And the Magic may be proven right in that regard. Banchero can be an offensive star that the team can pair with Franz Wagner, who was among the two or three best rookies in the league last season. Banchero’s scoring, finishing and passing ability at his size—6-foot-10 and 250 pounds—will help create some dynamism in an offense that often resembled a fork being scraped on a chalkboard. He can’t defend, but the Magic figure to worry about that later.

In all, it could prove to be the wise pick. Most observers of the past NCAA season say that Banchero was the clear top player in college basketball, averaging 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists. “I think our team got a lot better tonight,” Weltman said. “I am really excited about the direction of our team. I again say, Paolo hasn’t played one minute in this league yet. Everything he gets he is going to have to earn. But obviously, he has a tremendous future, tremendous future ahead of him.”

That is likely true. But his entry into the organization (the lack of a visit, the hush-hush poker game with the rest of the league) was strange. Despite all that, Banchero has a chance to make his mark on the Magic record books—now that he knows he is a member of the Magic, that is.