Who deserves to be the number one scoring option for the Orlando Magic?

Paolo Banchero can be the Orlando Magic’s no.1 scoring option.

If any person is going to take exception to be the number two choice here, it is Banchero himself. After all, he was selected first overall this year to be the offensive hub for the franchise, and he has the kind of game that Paul Pierce recently told Kevin Garnett on “KG Certified” that has him “looking like a veteran”. That is high praise considering he hasn’t yet played a game.

So then why is he not number one on this list? Well, for all of the potential that is clearly there, we haven’t actually seen Banchero do anything yet. It is entirely possible, maybe even likely, that after 10 games he will have made us look silly and will easily be thought of as the unequivocal number one option on this roster.

But until we have actually seen it, we have to remember that Banchero is a rookie and that he isn’t joining a team with title aspirations. Which is what needs to be remembered here. Exciting though it may be to be a Magic fan, with the semblance of a coherent roster and modest preseason chatter from media types liking what they’re doing, they are still a long way from contention.

This is not said to dampen the mood. The Magic are going to win some games they shouldn’t this year, and will likely flirt with the play-in. It is just that Banchero alone won’t be the reason for this. He is going to have a slump the way all rookies do, and he is going to find the grind of an 82-game season difficult.

On a more optimistic note, though, Banchero should be the number one option before long. His size and ability to get to the rim have already created great excitement, as has his pull-up jumper and the smoothness of his game for a bigger player. Carmelo Anthony and Pierce comparisons may be lazy because of the size similarities, but they are also mentioned for a reason. Banchero is going to be really, really good and average at least 15 points in the process.