How did Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrate his rookie scale extension this summer? By going back to the gym that night, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I definitely signed it right away. There was no real thought. Just where do I sign?” Banchero said. “It was a surreal feeling. The day it got announced and everything, the day it got done, I didn’t know what to even do. My phone was blowing up. Everybody wanted to congratulate and call me and it was like the middle of the day and I was just sitting in the house and I was just like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Am I supposed to go celebrate or am I supposed to respond to everybody? I don’t know.’ So, I had worked out that morning and I ended up just going back to the gym that night. And I was just like, ‘I’ll just go say thank you to the game and just go get some shots up.’ And that’d be my way of celebrating, kind of paying it back to the game for blessing me in that way. So that’s kind of what I did. I didn’t really know how else to handle it.”
Banchero signed his five-year max extension in early July. He’s averaging 23.3 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
Here’s more on the Magic:
- Jalen Suggs didn’t play on Monday against Portland due to left knee injury management, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Suggs had 20 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes during Sunday’s 111-107 loss to Boston. Suggs underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee in March. He’s not on the injury report for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
- Slumping Desmond Bane, the team’s big offseason acquisition, hit a 3-pointer at just the right time. Bane knocked down his first career game-winning buzzer beater against the Trail Blazers in a 115-112 victory. Bane has missed his five previous 3-point tries during the contest. “I just want to be a part of winning,” Bane said, per Youngmisuk. “But I think moments like tonight really help you settle into a new situation.” Bane, a career 40.7 percent 3-point shooter, has made only 27.7 percent of his long-distance tries this season.
- Tristan Da Silva had just two points and three rebounds in 17 minutes on Monday but generally, he’s shown growth offensively during his second NBA season, Beede notes. He’s averaging 10.9 points on 46.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.2 percent from distance. As a rookie, da Silva averaged 7.2 points on 41.2 percent shooting (33.5 percent on 3s).