Paolo Banchero: Draft profile| Highlights| Points| Disease

Paolo Napoleon James Banchero is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils.

Paolo Banchero: Draft profile| Highlights| Points| Disease

https://youtu.be/QIpx1gJkJ08

Draft profile:

Paolo Banchero began his Duke career with a 22-point, seven-rebound outing vs. then-No. 10 Kentucky that thrust him into frontrunner status to be the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

He finished his Duke career with 20 points and 10 boards vs. North Carolina in the Final Four and retained his standing as a legitimate contender to be this year’s top pick.

Highlights:

Shooting it from deep and defending at a high level are the only two things keeping him from becoming the consensus top prospect. He can knock down 3-pointers, but he made just 33.8% of them at Duke.

He can defend and hold up physically, but switching onto the perimeter and maintaining effort and focus was hit or miss at times in college.

Points:

1st among true freshmen in the 2021-22 season in scoring: 17.2 points per game.

5th among true freshmen in the 2021-22 season in field-goal percentage: 47.8 percent. 6th among true freshmen in the 2021-22 season in rebounding: 7.8 rebounds per game.

The appeal with Banchero lies in his polish. He’s an incredible offensive weapon who thrives in the mid-range.

Disease:

Duke star Paolo Banchero is projected to go No. 1 overall in the 2022 NBA draft. But there are some health issues he needs to address first.

We have Banchero, a 6-foot-10 forward who just turned 19 years old, at the top of our most recent mock draft for a reason. Banchero finds ways to beat his man in the low post just as easily as he can hit his pull-up jumper off the dribble. When he is cutting to the basket, he appears nearly unstoppable.