Paolo Banchero got the better of his matchup against fellow top prospect Keegan Murray in an Orlando Magic vs. Sacramento Kings clash for the ages. But the number one overall pick still had mad respect for his draft classmate.
Banchero was asked about what he thought of Murray after their 94-92 win over the Kings.
“Awesome,” Paolo Banchero said. “He's tough. He’s a great player. Tremendous on offense, man. He’s a shotmaker. Every time he shoots, it’s almost like I think it’s going in. On that last one, I told him I knew you were going to make it as soon as he shot it. He’s a great player and it was fun competing against him.”
I asked Paolo Banchero about his matchup with Keegan Murray in a wild and memorable Las Vegas Summer League game today. pic.twitter.com/OMyI3hRQ4Y
— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) July 10, 2022
The Magic held a six point lead in regulation with just under eight seconds left in the contest before the Kings pulled the shocker of the summer league with a triple from center Neemias Queta, an inbound steal, then a game-tying trey from Keegan Murray to force overtime.
Article Continues BelowMurray finished with 20 points on an efficient 5-for-11 clip with four threes to go along with nine rebounds and two assists.
Banchero similarly stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks. But he did commit eight turnovers, including the bad pass that led to Keegan's three that had NBA announcer Mark Jones in midseason form:
N33MY QUETA & K33GHIM MURRAY.
we're going into OT 👑 pic.twitter.com/BDCMqODsR3— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) July 9, 2022
The mutual respect between the two future studs is clearly there. Safe to say this will just be the first of many epic showdowns between Paolo Banchero and Keegan Murray.