Why is Paolo Banchero not playing tonight vs Mavericks? A look at Magic star's injury status (Nov. 3) 

Paolo Banchero's absence comes in as a major disappointment for the Orlando Magic who had a promising start to their 2024-25 NBA season. Their superstar forward has been a notable absentee for two games on the bounce— both of which the Magic dropped in their six-game road trip. The losses saw them slip to a 3-3 record and occupy sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The task gets only tougher as Orlando will be without Banchero when it plays the formidable Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Sunday (Nov. 3). The forward's torn oblique that saw him miss one game so far will have him on the sidelines as the Magic will look to Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner to steer them through. The 21-year-old has already been ruled out of Sunday's matchup vs Luka Doncic and Co.

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Why is Paolo Banchero not playing against the Dallas Mavericks? (Nov. 3)

The Orlando Magic earlier announced that Paolo Banchero will be sidelined indefinitely following a torn oblique injury sustained during his game against the Chicago Bulls.

The Magic went down 102-99 and also hit pause on the forward's prolific season. The latest reports suggest that he will be evaluated in four to six weeks. This should mean that Banchero will roughly miss an estimated 14-15 games for the side.

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Paolo Banchero stats this NBA 2024-24 season

Paolo Banchero had a scintillating start to his season with a 33-point double-double studded with 11 rebounds in the Magic's season-opening 116-97 win over the Miami Heat.

Later, he exploded for 50 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists in the team's 119-115 win over the Indiana Pacers, and in the process became the youngest player since LeBron James to record a statline of 50+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in a single game.

In his five games so far, the forward averaged 29 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game in 36.4 minutes per contest.

Banchero was the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NBA draft. His stellar rookie season saw him win the NBA Rookie of the Year for 2022-23 and also earn NBA All-Rookie First Team honors. He bagged his maiden All-Star call-up last season and was key in the team's playoff run. The Magic made the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 season but were outclassed 4-3 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.