How Sweeney Sean Handles Latest Paolo Banchero Injury Will Dictate Magic's Season

Magic forward to miss an undisclosed amount of time due to injury.

A phrase Magic fans have heard since the dawn of time.

Paolo Banchero will miss approximately 4-6 weeks due to a high ankle sprain.

How will Orlando's new head coach confront an injury problem that has persisted on this Magic roster for years on end?

The first real test for Sean Sweeney has arrived before the team could even find its first win of the regular season  – can the coach create a winning system on both ends without one of its star players?

How Sean Sweeney Can Manage Two Months Without Paolo

Last season, something similar happened; there was an early-season 20-ish game stretch where Banchero missed a chunk of time due to injury with Jamahl Mosley still Head Coach at the time.

Since Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs were both healthy and in peak form, the Magic actually went on one of their strongest runs of the season, rating Top-10 in Net Rating on both ends, looking like a drive-and-kick machine clear contender around Wagner anchoring both ends.

Point Franz was the lead playmaker and big wing star-stopper; Jalen Suggs brought 3pt shooting, connective playmaking and defensive disruptio; Desmond Bane stepped up as a scorer; Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze held down the rim defensively, while Anthony Black and Tristan da Silva helped fill the void on the wing.

What's stopping something similar from happening under Coach Sweeney this season?

If Orlando's goal to generate as many good looks off drive-and-kicks as possible remains true, then they must adjust on the fly by upping the volume of on-ball touches for Point Wagner, the most proven good shot creating star on the team.

While Banchero is a fantastic paint-and-spray hub, Orlando can create good looks for its best shooters in Bane, da Silva, Suggs, and so on in the mean time without him through Wagner's halfcourt creation, Bane's drive-and-kick relocation threes, and halfcourt sets using smartly-timed screens to take advantage of any mismatches on the court.

Running more halfcourt sets off-ball for Bane to receive the catch on the run, around a screen, with a head of steam or any half-step advantage at all tends to open up all the room Downhill Des needs to drive, dish, or pull-up on a dime.

Point Wagner has shown immense potential as a true scoring creator; if you give him a screen, the offense is practically guaranteed a good shot. Whether he penetrates the paint with finesse footwork and soft touch finishing, draws a foul along the way, hits the roller or dunker spot big for a lob, or kicks out to the open shooter for three, Orlando putting the ball in Wagner's hands and giving him a strong screener to work with consistently creates a good offensive possession.

In addition to his strong rim-rolling activity, Carter stretching out to beyond the arc more and more will only help his shooting confidence and his outside threat to defenses. Mixing in Nikola Vucevic pick-and-pops with Wagner as the defacto go-to offense for the second unit will also likely create good looks against opposing benches all season, with Vucevic splashing his open threes so far and Wagner normally able to score in the paint against starting defenses, let alone bench players.

Pick-and-rolls and handoffs are the type of halfcourt sets Orlando can rely on for nearly every possession, especially once they mix in multi-layered sets such as Spain/Stack, Chicago, Miami/Orlando, and Horns, which all involve an extra screen in the mix to throw off defenses and keep defenders guessing. Off-court screen sets like Staggers, Elevators, Iverson, even a good ol' Floppy set for Bane and another shooter could help create as many open threes for Orlando's best shooters as possible, especially missing its best 3pt-creating hub in Banchero.

Defense needs to figure it out, fast

Orlando's defense needs to flatly make a huge leap from where they've been. With Noah Penda, Jonathan Isaac, Anthony Black, and Rookie Izaiyah Nelson also out to injury, Orlando's frontcourt is suddenly completely depleted of nearly all forward depth, especially on the defensive side.

Wagner is the lone defensive anchor standing, with da Silva providing a nice offensive change-of-pace spark behind him and Jamal Cain adding a playable glue guy to the mix, but other than that? Orlando might have to lean on double-big lineups with Wendell Carter Jr. playing some four, heavy Wagner minutes, heavy da Silva minutes, for what looks to be one or two months. Jevon Carter and Jase Richardson bring two pests at guard along with Bane often making hustle plays, but they need one other guard to take leap.

Suggs needs to bounce back and play like peak Suggs again; the all-defensive guard who splashes open threes and quarterbacks pinpoint outlet passes in transition.

Orlando doesn't need a hero to make game-saving play every play; they need their all-around point guard to utilize all he can do to help steady the ship, to be another coach on the floor with his unique vantage point knowing Sweeney his whole life. The Magic need Suggs to focus on defensive disruption, transition tenacity, connective playmaking again; to get back to shooting the threes that are good open shots created off drive-and-kick swings after the defense has been scrambled.

Sweeney has his work cut out for him. Welcome to life as the coach of the Orlando Magic; your full roster should be available in approximately 4-6 weeks, for the rest of time.