Paolo Banchero: 2022 NBA Draft Scouting Report
The most polished scorer in this class, Banchero has seized the top spot on our big board and may not look back
From the beginning of this draft cycle, Paolo Banchero has stood out as different. He’s been a takeover scorer from the season open against Kentucky until the Final Four against North Carolina. At 6’10” with exquisite ball handling and rarely-seen scoring versatility, Banchero is the 2022 NBA Draft’s best bet at being a 25-point-per-game guy at the next level.
Banchero has been in the top-three on our board all year, jockeying for position with guys like Jabari Smith and Chet Holmgren throughout. Upon the review of the tape we did to complete our scouting report, one thing became clear to us: all of the areas for improvement that Paolo typically gets scrutinized for are slightly overblown or easily fixable.
Let’s focus first on who or what Paolo Banchero is. He’s a terrific scorer with as much polish as we’ve seen from a freshman in college in years. His footwork is exquisite, he’s incredibly patient and uses a ton of incredibly potent jab steps, pump fakes and pivots to score. He’s strong-bodied to initiate and score through contact, has good touch with both hands at the rim, is explosive to finish above it and really likes to mismatch post. Banchero, both statistically and in the diversity of how he can score there, is close to elite at the rim.
The second-level of scoring for Paolo is in the mid-range, probably where he’s most comfortable. His ability to score off pull-ups is astounding in the 15-18 foot range, and he can make tough ones. Combine with that exceptional passing — both in terms of decision-making and willingness when defenses collapse on him — and Banchero can anchor an offense inside the 3-point line.
What we constantly hear is that Paolo doesn’t shoot it well enough to 3-point range. With his misses and the lack of consistency, there’s plenty to clean up. But he’s currently at a stable 33.8% from 3 and is above 35% on catch-and-shoot looks in the half-court. While the consistency out to that third level isn’t fully there and his misses are ugly, it’s easy to buy into slight tweaks and improvements getting him up to a good enough level where teams don’t go underneath the high PNR.
As the season went on, more scouts and draft pundits online began to come around on Banchero as a passer. The shooting is starting to take a turn that way as well. The last holdout of the Paolo critics is his impact on the defensive end — and we think that perception needs to change as well.