Orlando Magic star forward Paolo Banchero has been out of the lineup for weeks as he deals with a torn right oblique muscle. The young star suffered the injury in a loss against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 30.
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The Magic have been able to stay afloat without his services but they could be seeing him return sooner rather than later. The initial diagnosis for Banchero was that he would be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks.
Banchero revealed an update himself, saying that he has been feeling good. If he continues to progress in this manner, Banchero believes that he could be back by the holidays at the end of the year.
"This isn't from the medical team or anything but the way I feel and I've been feeling, I think I can get back before Christmas. Now, if it's around that time and they say no way, you can't go then I'll listen. But if he gives me the green light then I'm gonna do it."
Orlando holds a record of 8-6 on the season as they look to continue pushing forward in the Eastern Conference. They are 5-4 on the year since Banchero went down with his injury, showing the ability to at least play .500 basketball without their leader.
The Magic reached the postseason last year behind a strong surge from Banchero. The former No. 1 overall draft pick has emerged as one of the better young forwards in the game today and Orlando counts on him to lead the way on offense.
Last season, Banchero played in 80 games for the Magic, earning his first All-Star selection. Banchero averaged 22.6 points on .455/.339/.725 shooting splits, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Before he went down with the injury, Banchero seemed to be taking things up a notch across his numbers. Banchero put up 29.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game.
This is in addition to him improving his 3-point shot percentage from his 33.9 clip last season. It increased to 34.4 percent this year, albeit in a small sample size of just five games.
Getting Banchero back as soon as possible will be huge for the Magic as they try to get back to the playoffs. They finished last season as the No. 5 seed in the East and pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in their first-round series.
Orlando is seen as one of the better young teams across the association, with Banchero taking the next step into stardom. While the Magic can survive for a little while longer without him, Banchero is the key to Orlando finding any level of success for the remainder of the season.
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