Orlando Magic rising star Paolo Banchero is confident he can lead his team to a stronger finish in the 2024-25 NBA campaign and overtake several Eastern Conference teams, including the The New York Knicks.
Banchero helped the Magic make a comeback in the NBA in 2023-24. Orlando won 13 games and finished 47-35 overall on the year. They did it with the former No. 1 overall pick leading the charge with 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game on a respectable 45.5% shooting percentage. His play earned him his first All-Star nomination and the Magic’s first trip to the playoffs since 2019-20.
Banchero has had the effect that a top pick typically has on a franchise with only one year of experience, and he expects his career trajectory to translate into another leap in team productivity and success. The only way that will happen is if the Magic overtake last year’s top four seeds in the East who finished ahead of them in the standings: the No. 1-seeded Boston Celtics, No. 2-seeded Knicks, No. 3-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and No. 4-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
Paolo Banchero wants to lead Magic to better record than Knicks in 2024-25
The Duke University product said this when an ESPN First Take guest discussed how he thought the Magic played last time out and where he wanted to see them finish in the upcoming campaign, which would have a direct impact on the Knicks as a result. (h/t Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report via Jeremy Brener of the New York Knicks on SI):
“We feel like we’re in a good spot,” Banchero said. “We’re in a good spot with all these (elite East) teams. I remember last year we started the year as a top two or three seed and everybody thought it was a fluke. Everybody thought we were going to be a playoff team and come out on top of the Eastern Conference. We finished strong and got the fifth seed and had a chance to really take the second seed at the end of the season. We were in a good spot last year. We got better this year. I got better, we all got better. We have some new pieces that are going to help a lot. We’re trying to make some noise. We should easily be a top four or top three team and have a chance to win the Eastern Conference.”
Can the Magic overtake the Knicks in the standings next season?
Last season, the Knicks and Magic were separated by just three games in the standings. However, a lot will be different in 2024-25. For one, both teams will look different when the campaign begins. Notably, the Knicks’ arrival of Mikal Bridges outshines the Magic’s biggest offseason acquisition, two-time NBA champion Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Orlando has some maturity, with its young core already having a year of regular-season and playoff experience under its belt. However, the Knicks have two of the top ten perimeter defenders in all of basketball, Bridges and OG Anunoby, and an offensive unit with three reliable 20-point-per-game scorers, Bridges and All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, compared to just one for the Magic, Banchero.
Beyond that, the rest of the East has also improved a lot, including the arrival of All-Star Paul George from the Philadelphia 76ers. Additionally, Orlando has a tough opening schedule to start the upcoming campaign, as they’ll face the two-time Indiana Pacers, the West’s No. 1 seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat and Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans in six of their first 10 games, not to mention a Memphis Grizzlies team primed to welcome back star point guard Ja Morant.
They also end the year with stiff competition, including against the Los Angeles Lakers of LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the defending champion Boston Celtics in two of their last 11 meetings.
Banchero will have to be ready for the improved roster the Knicks will field next year, the elite competition that also seeks the crown in the East, and the challenges their schedule poses. The East is no longer the little brother of the league’s two conferences. There are legitimately six teams that could make the NBA Finals in 2024-25.
The Knicks, The Knicks, who outscored the Magic 3-1 in their series last season, appear well-positioned to sweep them next season, with their best roster on paper in more than a decade. The Magic will certainly be a threat in the conference, but the Knicks should feel good about having the upper hand in the win-loss column over them and a host of other contenders in 2024-25.
