Paolo Banchero signing with Jordan brand

Shams Charania: Orlando Magic No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero is finalizing an endorsement deal with Jordan Brand, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
Source: Twitter @ShamsCharania

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
Orlando Magic No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero is finalizing an endorsement deal with Jordan Brand, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. – 5:56 PM

Tom Orsborn @tom_orsborn
Coach Gregg Popovich’s crew will make its AT&T Center debut against 2022 top overall draft pick Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic at 7 p.m. Oct. 6.
expressnews.com/sports/spurs/a… – 11:51 AM

Nick Friedell @NickFriedell
The Magic are hoping that No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero can eventually develop into the type of face of the franchise star they haven’t had since Dwight Howard left town. In the short-term, his arrival has already brought the young team even closer together. espn.com/nba/story/_/id… – 1:36 PM

More on this storyline

 

While the basketball world is interested to see how Paolo Banchero will fit as a focal point of this team, Jamahl Mosley wants to take as much pressure as possible off the 19-year-old, already a face of the long-struggling franchise. “I really believe that we’re going to do it by committee, honestly,” Mosley says. “Look at the Warriors. Look at Milwaukee; you look at Memphis. There’s something about the committee in which they do it. One person will speak at times, but there’s other guys holding each one accountable. There’s one guy that will speak up and do it a different way, work in a different way. That’s the way this team is shaping up; each guy’s going to have a different type of voice on a different night.” -via ESPN / July 26, 2022

Banchero’s arrival on the NBA scene has given the Magic, who have been to the playoffs only twice since the end of the 2011-12 season, a shot of energy the organization desperately needed. So much so that when Mosley and his coaching staff texted the veteran players before summer league to set up a team dinner in Vegas, many of them made it clear they were already ahead of their coach. “These guys came in and they were like, ‘Well yeah, that’s great, but we’re going to be there on the 7th for the first [summer league] game,'” Mosley says. “And I know a lot of teams have certain guys in and out, but for them to sit with each other, be with each other, laughing and joking, talking about what they want to do, being around each other — it’s something special to me.” -via ESPN / July 26, 2022

Anthony knows what Banchero represents to an organization — and city — that hasn’t been nationally relevant to the league since Dwight Howard left town in 2012. “I’ve been in the gym with [Banchero] a little bit already, seeing him out here, just doing what he does,” Cole Anthony says, dressed in a T-shirt celebrating Shaquille O’Neal’s Magic tenure on it. “He’s going to help us a lot. And now I feel like we can really start building something.” -via ESPN / July 26, 2022