ORLANDO, FLA. -- PAOLO BANCHERO was only five years old when the SuperSonics left his hometown of Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, despite growing up in a city without an NBA team, Banchero was raised by the NBA.
Long before the Orlando Magic made Banchero the No. 1 overall pick out of Duke, he learned to be a pro from the many NBA players who've come from Seattle and still provide the city with a vibrant basketball scene during the NBA offseason.
Jamal Crawford, a 20-year NBA veteran and fellow Seattleite, first noticed something special in Banchero when he was 14 years old.