The MOST Underrated Team in the NBA…

The MOST Underrated Team in the NBA…

If you’re looking for the most underrated team in the NBA, look no further than the Orlando Magic. And I cannot believe we are really having legitimate discussions about JDub versus Paulo Benero. That shouldn’t be a question. Bancerero is about to have an absolute breakout year and lead the Magic not only to a playoff birth, but probably at least a top four seed if I had to guess. Yes, I think the Magic are that good. They could be a top four seed behind of course Paulo, Fron Vagner, Desmond Bane, the trade they made to get the whole thing started. And then you also got guys they brought in like Jace Richardson and Taius Jones to help with guard depth. And yeah, this Magic team is stacked and behind Polo who just signed that massive extension like 5 years, 280ome million with the AllNBA bump coming off of a season where he averaged close to 26 a game with 7 and a half rebounds, 4.8 assist, and 1.2 steals per night. The efficiency is a question mark, right? 45% from the field, 32% from three on six attempts. That’s not good. Only played in 46 games. You got to remember that. So, he never got that continuity down. Never got into the flow of things. And they really had no spacing last year at all. And that really hurts a guy like Paulo whose best attribute is his downhill driving because he’s a matte truck. Now you add in guys like Jace Richardson, Desmond Bane, and even Taius Jones who they bring in, and it’s really going to help that spacing out, and he’s going to be able to get downhill a whole lot more often, and the outcome’s going to be a lot better. Now, I do love the Taius Jones edition, and one of the guys was in my comment section in my Magic offseason preview talking about Taius Jones. He caught it, so shout out to him. But Taius is a great veteran presence to bring to this Magic team on a one-year, $7 million deal. kind of the bridge at backup point guard um between Cole Anthony to now Jace Richardson and Tyus will be great in that one-year deal. 10.2 points a game, 5.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and a steal last year on 45% shooting from the field, 41% from three on four and a half attempts. A solid decent defender. Um decent at best, I guess you should say. But he is fantastic at controlling an offense. He’s just 28 years old, so he can still come in and provide a little bit of a scoring punch, but he’s also going to take care of the basketball. And the Magic, their biggest problem last year, remember two years ago, they were 47 and 35, made the playoffs as a four seed. So, this team is or five seed, excuse me, this team is very good. They just got derailed by injuries last year and their lack of an ability to shoot the three ball around Fron and Paulo because both Fron and Paulo are drivers. Jaylen Suggs missed pretty much the entire season and you didn’t have anybody that could shoot a three. So, I love the addition of Taius Jones. I love the other additions they make like Jace Richardson. Um, but last year they went 41 and 41. Their defense was top two in the league and their offense was bottom five. Their three-point percentage was dead last in the NBA and they finished last in three-pointers made as well. So bringing in some spacing with Taius Jones, with Jace Richardson, with Desmond Bane especially should really help this out. And I love the Jace Richardson pick. I was much higher on him than Consensus. He was my number nine overall prospect. A lot of people had him lower down into the 20s because well, he’s 6’2 with a 66 wingspan. He’s just not quite big enough. But he is extremely efficient, a fantastic scoreer, knocks down the three ball with ease, and he I think he’s best off the catch and shoot. um he can create for himself, but when somebody drives and kicks to him, that’s when he is the best from beyond the ark. Um once again, sliding the corner right here. This is still a tough shot because it’s a tough catch, but he’s able to knock it down. Their throws it a little low, but he’s able to catch and release and knock it down. He’s got a little bit of that off the bounce ability, some flashes, if you will behind the back, step back last year at Michigan. Not an easy place to play. He knocks it down, but once again, his bread and butter is off the catch. She can also get inside a little bit as well, but the three-point shooting is really going to help this Magic team out who, like I said, they need shooters around their two slashers. And last year, they were the worst team in the league at shooting the three ball. Jace averaged 12 and a half points a game, three rebounds, and two assists last year on 49% shooting from the field, 41% from three on 4.2 attempts. And like I said, he does have some slashing ability being able to get to the rim. He’s not a guy that’s going to finish above the rim just because he’s 6’2, but he does have some bounce. Uh, if you know who his father was, it would make sense getting downhill using the left hand there. He’s good with either hand. Using the right right here, or actually that was a two-handed jam, but he can go both ways. Little spin move in transition here. Getting back to his left. He’s very good with his left, but he can also get to his right very well. Um, he works well in the pick and roll. Getting downhill right there against Michigan, who’s got a couple of good rim protectors. And then getting to that left hand once again here against Maryland. Um, working ISO right here. getting right downhill and finishing with the left. He might actually be better with his left than he is his right. Per 40 minutes, he averaged 19.2 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, and as a starter, he averaged 16 points per game, and 4.7 rebounds. So, when given the minutes, he can produce. The midi is fine as well. Um, not necessarily his go-to, but every small guard has to have a little mid-range. Right here, it’s the float over the shot blocker. in well actually that’s Cheddar so not much of a shot blocker but still got to that float game in the mid-range and then once again right here gets the and one with a little mid-range float game and then the more traditional mid-range getting into his step back and knocking it down from about the three uh free throw line. Noah Penda was also a very good pick. I like both the rookies this year in Orlando. Penda is about 6’8 coming from overseas at 245 with a 7 foot wingspan. So he’s a big dude but he can shoot the basketball. He’s got very sound mechanics. squares his shoulders well and right here as you can see operating out of the pick and roll. He’s just going to lift behind the defense as they rotate and he’s going to come to the ball and knock down the three ball. That is something that he can contribute from day one. The ability to stretch the floor, especially out of the pick and roll. Now, his release is a little bit slow and that’s something probably that you’ll need to work on. Um he wasn’t really getting pressured on the perimeter last year, but still the release was pretty slow. it can get a little bit quicker and that’s probably one of the first things they have to work on. He averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assist as a pro. 44% shooting from the field, 30% from three. The finishing is pretty solid as well, getting right downhill and getting straight to business with the right hand. And then a little bit of the handle, getting downhill, taking the contact, getting the and one. But he’s just a big dude. Like I said, he’s 245 lbs. So if he drives, he can move you out of the way. Nice little fundamental basketball right there. A little shot fake up and under. And then getting into his bag, showing off the handle a little bit. Little shoulder bump, getting to that left hand and getting it to go. And then a big boy flush right there. He is got a solid post up game down low. So he’s not just a scorer around the perimeter. He can go down low and do the dirty work because like I said, he is 245 lbs. He also has some defensive flashes as well, fighting through the screen there and getting into the deflection which leads to the runout dunk. This is the starting lineup. Window Carter Jr. at center. Magic fans have voiced some issues and concerns with that, but as for now, they’re going to have to deal with it because they’ve got four guys that are elite at the other four positions. And then off the bench now, you have Taius Jones, Anthony Black to Tristan Dilva, Jonathan Isaac, and Mo Vagner. And I like that a lot. Uh maybe you could add another scorer coming off the bench, but I think that’s what they want Jace Richardson to develop into. They also have Gogab Batad and of course Noah Penda. So they got like 13 guys um 12 I guess you could say with Pinda in the G-League. But they got a solid rotation here in Orlando. And I’m really excited about it. I’m also very excited about Desmond Bane because I think he is going way under the radar right now. He’s a guy that averaged 19.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists with 1.2 steals in 32 minutes a game. Shot 48% from the field and 39% from three on six attempts. And after the trade, he really hasn’t been talked about. He is going to be a huge differencemaker in Orlando. This big three right here, he complements the other two so perfectly because of his outside scoring and his ability to knock down the three ball. Um, not necessarily a slasher, but he can do that. But yeah, that’s his strength right there. Remember back in 2023 24, he averaged 24 a game with five and a half assists and 4.4 4 rebounds, shooting 46% from the field and 38% from three on almost nine attempts a game. Desmond Bane is a dude and bringing him into Orlando is the perfect move they could have made. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure to hit the like button, leave me a comment down below, and hit that subscribe button if you did enjoy at any point. And with all that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Orlando Magic and how they have the most underrated team in the nba right now behind Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner
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