Why media is wrong saying Banchero is clear ROTY over Pacers’ Mathurin
By Joe Lyon
Paolo plays in a fundamentally different role than Mathurin
For the Orlando Magic, Paolo plays a fundamentally different role than Mathurin does for the Pacers. Paolo always has the ball in his hands every time down the court. This is going to translate into things such as more point, assists, and shot attempts: because he literally always has the ball. There isn’t an incredible amount of talent on the Orlando roster and so much of the burden is constantly being shouldered by Banchero.
Compare this to Mathurin who has quite a few other talented players on the team that are more ball dominant than him such as Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield. This gives Mathurin the ability to be more opportunistic with his decisions, but also will mean that he will have less overall statistical padding given he has the ball less. Body type and play style make up some of the differences, but also opportunity that the players are given make a big difference as well.
But this isn’t the only thing that Banchero has going for him in comparison to Mathurin in Indiana.