The Orlando Magic are still waiting on Paolo Banchero, and the wait is likely to last another few weeks. The star forward is expected to remain out for around 4-6 weeks after suffering a low grade high ankle sprain on October 23.
That timeline matters now because Banchero has already missed nearly two weeks, leaving the Magic without their top player while the NBA season is still in its early stretch. For fantasy basketball managers, the absence is just as costly. In his first two games, he was averaging 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists.
Banchero said the injury started when Desmond Bane fell into him and rolled up on his ankle in the first quarter against the Timberwolves, then flared up again later. He said he kept playing after the initial twist, then asked to come out again in the third quarter after feeling it a second time. By then, he had decided not to press his luck any further.
His description did not sound like a catastrophic setback. Banchero said doctors looked at the ankle and found nothing structurally wrong, and that he could move and walk fine. He also said most of his ankle sprains have gone the other way, which made this one feel unfamiliar and a little scary. That is the friction inside the timeline: the ankle may not be structurally damaged, but the low grade high ankle sprain still carries a recovery window measured in weeks, not days.
For the Magic, the practical issue is protecting a player they depend on before pushing him back too soon. The team has to balance the long season ahead against the fact that Banchero had been producing at a high level before the injury. The clearest answer for now is the one his recovery schedule gives: he is expected to sit somewhere inside that 4-6 week window, with the exact return date still not pinned down.
