Banchero shares the pressure of being the top pick in the NBA Draft: "I've got to come in and be that guy from day one"

Yahoo

24-05-2025

Current Orlando Magic franchise player Paolo Banchero admitted that he never saw himself playing for his team before he was drafted first overall in 2022. In fact, the one-time All-Star didn't even think he'd be selected number one because it wasn't implied to him prior to the draft, like for most. So when the Duke University product heard his name called first, Paolo felt a mix of relief, but also added pressure.
"I think it was pressure because I didn't visit the Magic during my pre-draft process. I visited the second and third pick that were OKC and Houston, but I didn't visit the Magic, so I've never been to Orlando. I didn't step in their building and they still chose me. So I was like some of that pressure because they're choosing me because they really do believe that I can come and change things around. We didn't meet, I didn't work out, but they just believed in me that much," said Banchero.
Banchero is living up to the pressure
In fairness to the 22-year-old forward, he's given the Magic organization reasons to be confident about picking him first. Their young team — albeit being kicked out in the first round of the playoffs for two straight years — has looked like the best version of itself since they traded away Aaron Gordon in 2021. Since drafting Paolo three years ago, Orlando has made the playoffs twice.
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But the 2022-2023 Rookie of the Year awardee is obviously far from satisfied with what he's achieved so far in Orlando. The pressure to turn the franchise around continues to increase, and in a league where a handful of superstars ring chase, the 6'10'' forward wants to deliver a title to the team that believed in him over his peers in the 2022 NBA Draft.
"Once I realized I was going to Orlando, I was like, you know what? I've got to come in and be that guy from day one and just give them my 100% focus from the start because they're taking this chance on me, and I've got to prove them right," added Banchero.
Related: Michael Jordan told Phil Jackson that Scottie Pippen was the second-best player on the 1992 Dream Team: "He was a legitimate star"
Can Banchero break the trend?
Speaking of winning a title for Orlando, no one has done that for them in franchise history despite having picked first in the draft four times since they joined the league in 1989. The reason for that is that the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and Chris Webber went on to greener pastures to chase a title in different teams instead of staying in Orlando. That's why a lot of Magic fans fear that Paolo will follow the same trend that they've grown sick of at this point.
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Fortunately for them, the Seattle native doesn't want to leave and feels the need to deliver a title for Orlando, at least for now. Banchero has shown encouraging growth and signs that he can be that guy for them since day one, but whether Paolo can be the franchise superstar leading his team to the promised land is a whole different story and challenge.
Related: "The only thing missing for him right now is an elite point guard" - Cousins says Trae would take Banchero and the Magic to the next level