Orlando Magic decide Paolo Banchero's Summer League is over after early success
Liam Phillips
Julai 12, 2022 09:04 MYT
Julai 12, 2022 09:04 MYT
The top pick from this year's NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic's Paolo Banchero, will not play in the remainder of the Las Vegas Summer League as head coach Jamahl Mosley feels he has seen enough.
Banchero, 19, debuted against the Houston Rockets last week and scored 17 points with six assists in the win, functioning as a six-foot-10 lead ball-handler and his team's de facto point guard.
He followed it up with 23 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks in an overtime victory against the Sacramento Kings.
Banchero was scheduled for a highly anticipated matchup with number two pick Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, but the organisation decided to pull the plug on his Summer League campaign and wrap him in cotton wool.
rook was hooping @Pp_doesit ? 23 PTS | 6 REB | 6 AST pic.twitter.com/nlklro39t5 — Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) July 9, 2022
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Speaking to the media about the decision, Mosley said he wants to use the rest of Summer League to evaluate the more fringe talent vying for a roster spot.
"I want to give these other guys an opportunity to play, to kind of be able to show what they're capable of doing," he said.
"That's the point of summer league, you know, give them a chance... an opportunity for these other guys to see what they're capable of doing. We've seen what Paolo was capable of doing.
"His understanding of what he needs to do in certain situations, the concepts that we're preaching offensively and defensively, he's grasping on to those.
"Watching film together, he's observing those things. He explains to me the things that he sees on the floor.
"It's only two games, but you're watching those film sessions and you realise how he's registering all of it. So that's how you can make the judgement that it's time let these other guys get those moments.''
The Magic are also expected to withdraw R.J. Hampton and Admiral Schofield from the remainder of summer league, indicating they are locked into roster spots.