An MRI confirmed a low-grade right high ankle sprain for Paolo Banchero, and reports put the usual recovery at four to six weeks. Orlando is 0-2 and now heads on the road without its leading scorer.

The Orlando Magic will be without Paolo Banchero for a stretch of the early season. The team said on Saturday that an MRI had confirmed a low-grade sprain of his right high ankle, an injury he picked up in the first half of Friday’s 115-93 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The official Magic injury update did not include a return date. It said only that Banchero “will undergo further testing and evaluation, and his status will be updated as appropriate.”

What the timeline looks like

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Banchero is set to miss multiple weeks and that this kind of sprain usually keeps a player out for four to six weeks, according to ESPN. If that window holds, the forward would be looking at a return somewhere around Thanksgiving.

Banchero indicated this sprain is not the kind he is used to. He told the Orlando Sentinel that teammate Desmond Bane fell into him in the first quarter and landed on his ankle. He stayed in, then hurt it again after a jump in the third quarter. He described it as having “tweaked it to the inside,” per NBC Sports. He did not play in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

A heavy load to replace

The timing is rough for Orlando. Banchero opened the season with 35 points and 10 assists against the Atlanta Hawks, and through two games he leads the Magic at 24.5 points and 7.5 assists a night while also pulling down 6.5 rebounds. The No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft and a 2024 All-Star, he put up 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists last season.

Coach Sean Sweeney, in his first season on the Orlando bench, also has guard Anthony Black sidelined with a sprained ankle, although NBC Sports reported that Black is getting close to a return. The next stretch is a three-game road swing that starts in New York and continues with two games in Toronto.

Orlando has played through absences before

This is not new territory for the Magic. Banchero needed an MRI on a groin injury early last season, and ESPN noted that Orlando went 7-3 in the 10 games he missed in 2025-26. Over the last two seasons, Banchero has sat out 46 games, Franz Wagner 70 and Jalen Suggs 72, and the club still reached the playoffs both years.

The bigger worry is chemistry. the five-man unit of Banchero, Wagner, Suggs, Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. logged only 182 minutes together last season, ESPN found, though Orlando was 45 points better than its opponents in that time. Those minutes will have to wait a little longer, and the Magic will need Wagner and Bane to carry more of the scoring while they look for their first win. Follow the rest of our Orlando Magic coverage for updates on Banchero’s recovery.