Paolo Banchero's injury is a brutal blow for the Magic

Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. I watched it again Garrett Wilson's touchdown catch All morning and I don't plan on stopping.

In today's SI:AM:

😔 A serious NBA injury

⚔️ The Army's Return to Relevance

One of the NBA's most promising teams suffered a major blow Thursday when it announced its star player will be out for at least a month.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn oblique muscle, the team announced will pause indefinitely. He will be examined again in four to six weeks.

It's a tough break for a team that had hoped at the start of the year to build on a groundbreaking 2023-24 season in which it posted its first winning record in five years before falling to the United States in seven games in the first round of the playoffs Cleveland Cavaliers lost. Banchero was undoubtedly the main reason for the team's success. After winning Rookie of the Year honors in '22–23, he was named an All-Star in his second season and led the Magic in scoring, rebounds and assists. And in five games this season, he has already proven that he can endure as one of the sport's best young stars. On Monday, the 22-year-old scored 50 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in a four-point win over the Indiana Pacers, becoming the youngest player in franchise history to drop 50 points and the second-youngest player in the NBA -History who has managed at least 50 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game.

Banchero was one of the league's most consistent players in his first two seasons. He played in 72 games as a rookie and last year was one of 29 players to play in at least 80 games, ranking fifth in the league in minutes played.

The loss of Banchero is a major setback for a team that seemed poised to take another step forward this season. Banchero and Franz Wagner are a top-notch frontcourt duo, and Jalen Suggs is one of the best defensive players in the league as well as a solid three-point shooter. The trio forms an impressive young core that should keep Magic relevant for years to come. (At 23, Suggs is the oldest of the three.) And Orlando made some moves this offseason to keep several key role players in place, re-signing Moritz Wagner, Gary Harris and Goga Bitadze.

The Magic's biggest move, however, was signing veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three-year, $66 million contract. Not only is Caldwell-Pope a dangerous three-point shooter and talented perimeter defender, he also gives the Magic something that last season's team was sorely lacking: championship experience. No team in the 2024 playoff field had less postseason experience (as measured by cumulative career playoff appearances) than the Magic.

Before last season, only four Orlando players had appeared in a postseason game: Harris, Jonathan Isaac, Markelle Fultz and Joe Ingles. They had played a total of 91 playoff games before last season (50 of which were played by Ingles, who is no longer with the team). Caldwell-Pope has now played 62 career playoff games and won two championships (2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers and 2023 with the Denver Nuggets).

The Caldwell-Pope signing was a signal that the Magic were ready to enter the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. Not only was this a promising young team full of rising stars, but also an experienced team that was ready to be considered as a real contender.

The Banchero injury puts a damper on those plans. Even if he misses the minimum four weeks the team stated in their announcement, that's still 15 games. A six-week absence would mean missing 21 games – a quarter of the season. The relatively new playoff format – which allows teams ranked as low as 10th overall to qualify for the playoffs via the play-in tournament – gives Orlando a cushion, but a team that last year finished fifth in the conference, it would be disappointed that its fate was determined by the crapshoot of the play-in. The Magic must find a way to replace Banchero's multifaceted production. Otherwise, Orlando could have to wait another year to reach his full potential due to his injury.

…things I saw last night:

5. Kyrie Irving's fadeaway buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter.

4. Ja Morant's Alley-Oop while sitting on the floor.

3. The fight between Vasily Podkolzin of the Oilers and Jeremy Lauzon of the Predators that came to an end with three violent blows from Podkolzin.

2. Southern Nazarenes game-winning tight end screen Ouachita Baptist to beat. Southern Nazarene came into the game 0-8 and went to Ouachita Baptist, the No. 3 team in Division II, and came away with an 18-17 win.

1. Garrett Wilson one-handed touchdown grab. His full stretch was very reminiscent of another famous catch at MetLife Stadium.