Paolo Banchero Out Four to Six Weeks With Low-Grade High Ankle Sprain

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero will miss multiple weeks with a low grade right high ankle sprain, the team announced on Saturday, October 24, 2026. An MRI confirmed the diagnosis. Reporting by ESPN, carried by TSN and other outlets, said this kind of injury typically carries a timetable of four to six weeks.

The Magic gave no return date. The team said Banchero will undergo further testing and evaluation, and that his status will be updated as appropriate. Readers should treat the four to six week range as the typical timetable reported for this diagnosis, not as a return date announced by the team.

How the injury happened

Banchero hurt the ankle on Friday, October 23, 2026, during Orlando's 115 to 93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He first hurt it in the first quarter in a collision with teammate Desmond Bane. He stayed in the game, then hurt it again in the third quarter and sat out the final frame.

He finished Friday with 14 points and six rebounds.

Banchero described the sequence himself after the game, in comments quoted by NBC Sports from the Orlando Sentinel. He said Bane fell into him in the first quarter and rolled up on his ankle, that he kept playing, and that he felt it again in the third quarter after coming out of halftime. He said he asked to come out, came back in, felt it again, and decided not to push it farther. He said he felt confident it was nothing too major at that time. The MRI result announced on Saturday gave the formal diagnosis.

What Orlando loses

The injury comes two games into the season. Orlando is 0 and 2. In the season opening loss to Atlanta on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Banchero had 35 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists, a line that showed how much of the offense runs through him.

Last season he averaged 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists for the Magic. He played 46 games in 2024-25 after a torn oblique muscle in late October sidelined him for more than two months, so this is the second early season injury absence in two years for Orlando's leading forward.

What comes next

Orlando was off on Saturday. The team begins a three game road trip on Sunday against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Bleacher Report reported that Tristan da Silva will likely move into Banchero's spot in the starting lineup.

The Magic statement, quoted by NBC Sports, said: "Paolo Banchero underwent an MRI, which has confirmed a low grade right high ankle sprain. Banchero suffered the injury during the first half of last night's game vs. Minnesota. He will undergo further testing and evaluation, and his status will be updated as appropriate."

Until that update arrives, Orlando has to start its road trip and the next several weeks without the player who led its opening night offense.