Banchero arrives in Orlando, a day after becoming No. 1 pick
ORLANDO, FLA. » The secret about how Orlando was going to take Paolo Banchero with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft was incredibly well-kept.
Among those who didn’t know: Banchero himself.
Banchero said even he was kept out of the Magic decision loop until about 30 seconds before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took the draft stage to announce his name for the basketball world to hear. Mike Miller, Banchero’s agent, leaned over and broke the news by simply saying “Congratulations.”
“It all happened pretty fast,” Banchero said.
With that, he was off and running. Banchero arrived in Orlando on Friday, one day after his name got permanently etched on
the list of No. 1 draft picks. The 6-foot-10 forward out of Duke will officially start workouts next week for Orlando’s July 7 opener at NBA
Summer League.
“There’s going to be high expectations for myself that I’m going to hold myself to and that everyone is going to hold myself to,” Banchero said. “But I feel like it’s nothing I’m not used to. It was the same thing for me heading into college, throughout high school, a lot of expectations. It’s been like that my whole life.”
The Magic looked at every option with the No. 1 pick. Teams called about a trade. Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. came in for a workout. Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren spent a few days with the Magic last week.
“There’s things that you’re grabbing from each one that you’re like, ‘Oh, man, wow, that can be great for us,’” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “But then it ultimately comes down to, ‘How does that fit for us?”