PTI | Orlando Magic’s Bold Move – Are They Becoming Eastern Threat?

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On Pardon the Interruption, Michael Wilbon breaks down the impact of Paolo Banchero’s 5‑year contract extension and asks a big question: *Can the Orlando Magic become the *"Thunder of the East"?

Wilbon compares Orlando’s young core and organizational direction to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rise, exploring whether Banchero’s commitment can anchor a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. From roster-building to playoff ceiling, PTI delivers expert insight on the Magic’s future trajectory.

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Paolo Banchero contract, Magic five‑year deal, Wilbon Magic analysis, Orlando vs Thunder comparison, Eastern Conference contenders, Magic young core, PTI NBA talk, Magic future outlook, NBA team building, Magic playoff hopes

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00:00Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon.

00:03It's Cow Appreciation Day, Tony.

00:06How should we celebrate that?

00:09Tony Kornheiser, celebrate with a limerick.

00:12A cow is simply so stellar, such a productive farm dweller,

00:17but it's also aces when it comes to tight spaces.

00:20In fact, I keep three in my cellar.

00:23What do you think?

00:25The limerick is good.

00:26Cow Appreciation Day couldn't be dumber.

00:30Yeah, I like cows.

00:31Who comes up with this junk?

00:32I enjoy driving by places where there are cows on the side of the road.

00:38I always like to look at cows.

00:40I just, I like cows.

00:42Welcome to PTI, boys and girls.

00:43In today's episode, Kirk Cousins felt a little bit misled.

00:47The magic of putting the pieces together,

00:49and Tim Kirchner joins us for five good minutes.

00:52But we begin today with Wimbledon.

00:53Taylor Fritz, the five seed, becomes the first American man

00:57to reach the semifinals at the All-England Club

00:59since John Isner did it in 2018.

01:02Number one seed, Irina Sabalenka, was pushed to three sets but advanced.

01:06American Amanda Anasimova won in straight sets to advance to the semis

01:11where she will meet Sabalenka.

01:12She has a winning record against Sabalenka,

01:14and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz breezed into the semis.

01:18Wilbon, what stood out to you?

01:21Tony, I think a few things.

01:22The Sabalenka match I watched in its entirety,

01:26she had no business winning that match.

01:27And her opponent, Sigmund, who's 37 years old,

01:30the easy person to sort of have a sentimental rooting interest in,

01:34just couldn't finish.

01:35It was like the moment was too big, and you sort of feel bad.

01:38And Sabalenka's the big star.

01:40It is interesting.

01:41She said she learned a lot in France,

01:43and she wasn't going to sort of behave as immaturely as she did there.

01:46At least a lot of us thought she behaved wildly immaturely.

01:50And I believe that there's an uptick there in that behavior.

01:54So that stood out.

01:55And Alcaraz didn't because he just went out there and blitzed somebody,

01:59and it's like, boom.

02:01But, Tony, as you know from having covered Wimbledon

02:03and you and I have covered some tennis,

02:04some of what you do is look forward.

02:07And I can't help but look forward to – and Fritz, Todd Fritz,

02:11I'm going to let you get to mostly that.

02:12But Fritz and Alcaraz is going to be – it figures to be one hell of a match.

02:17American men have not been on the big stage in a long time.

02:23And then, if we're lucky, we're going to get Shelton and Sinner tomorrow

02:27in a quarterfinal, and then you could get Joker and Shelton,

02:31if you're rooting for Shelton like me.

02:33There's a lot going on, and today was a setup day in that regard.

02:37Yeah.

02:38Yeah, I'm going to start.

02:39It's Taylor Fritz.

02:40It's not Todd Fritz.

02:41It's Taylor Fritz.

02:42And I always have trouble with his name because I always think of Taylor Swift.

02:46But I'm going to start with him because a week ago he was out of the tournament, right?

02:51In his first-round match, he was down two sets to zero.

02:55And then he got to a fourth set and was down 5-1 in a tiebreaker.

02:59And I thought to myself, he's out.

03:01He's always out.

03:02He was out in the first round of the French.

03:03Now he's out in the first round of Wimbledon.

03:05He hung in there, Mike.

03:06And they had to postpone the match overnight, so it took a period of two days,

03:10and they were probably out on the court for four hours.

03:12And the guy's name he played against, and I don't know the name very well, Giovanni Ampec-Pericard.

03:17I had never heard of him.

03:19And I just thought, okay, he's going to win this match.

03:23Good for him.

03:24He's going to win.

03:25He's going to justify his seeding, you know, and if he – now he's in the semifinals.

03:31You mentioned Shelton.

03:32If Shelton – and it's a real rough road for Shelton.

03:35But if he got there, it would be the first time in 25 years, Mike,

03:38the two American men were in the semifinals in Wimbledon since Sampras and Agassi.

03:42And I'll just take about 10 seconds on Sabalenka.

03:45I know you're not crazy about her.

03:46I've watched her play twice in this tournament.

03:49She's come from behind to win both times.

03:51The first time was against Emma Raducanu, and I thought she was out of that.

03:55And somehow she steals herself.

03:58She wins a point.

03:59She wins another one.

04:00She wins a game.

04:01She gets a break, and she wins.

04:02She plays like a champion.

04:04She plays like a champion.

04:05She does.

04:06Playing like number one, playing up to the sea.

04:09And if I don't get a text from Todd Fritz later, I'll be disappointed.

04:13Now, to the confessions of Kirk Cousins.

04:17Captain Kirk opens up on the Netflix show Quarterback.

04:21Revealing that he felt a little bit misled, in quotes,

04:25when the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall just weeks

04:29after signing him as their new starter to a trillion dollars.

04:33He implies that had he known, he would have stayed with Minnesota.

04:38Cousins also admits he didn't want to rest his injured arm last season

04:41because he was afraid of getting Wally pipped.

04:44What a great reference.

04:45Tone, what are you hearing all of this?

04:47So, what I hear from Kirk Cousins is he feels completely betrayed

04:53by the Atlanta Falcons for drafting Michael Penixson in the first round.

04:59What I also hear is that if he knew then what he knows now,

05:03he wouldn't have done it.

05:04He would not have left Minnesota for Atlanta.

05:09And if, in fact, that's the case,

05:11then the great year Sam Darnold had wouldn't have existed,

05:14and Sam Darnold wouldn't have this lovely contract in Seattle.

05:16Now, what Cousins is saying on the record,

05:20a lot of it, is exactly what you're supposed to say.

05:23We have to be grown-ups.

05:24We have to be adults.

05:25You're not promised anything.

05:27But what I'm also hearing from him is that, you know,

05:31I hate the Atlanta Falcons.

05:33I hate their owner.

05:34I think they are duplicitous.

05:35And I'm also hearing what everybody said at that moment, Mike,

05:40which was, what do you mean you're drafting Michael Penix?

05:42You just signed Kirk Cousins.

05:45What are you people doing?

05:46And I think that's what I'm hearing and what Cousins is saying.

05:49I'm hearing the process, the everyday process of modern-day sports,

05:55in which there's a Netflix documentary or somebody's got a podcast

06:00or 8 million people have a podcast,

06:02and we hear more of people's inner thought process than we ever have.

06:08So we, yes, you have that also.

06:11We hear more from athletes about what they really felt.

06:15And it's not that people didn't feel these things 100 years ago

06:19that Terry Bradshaw didn't feel, and there was no place to air that.

06:23And so it's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars,

06:28and this is the business of sport.

06:30And you can find this anywhere somebody opens their mouth,

06:34whether it's a quarterback or a tennis player or a point guard

06:39or a race car driver.

06:42This is what you have regret, maybe.

06:44No, I agree with that.

06:45And second thoughts.

06:46I agree with that.

06:47I'm going to tell you this about Cousins.

06:49I'm not going to sit in a corner and cry for Cousins, okay?

06:52He leveraged his situation in Washington to get a great contract in Minnesota.

06:56He leveraged his situation in Minnesota to get a great contract in Atlanta.

06:59$296 million.

07:02$296 million.

07:03But as the Beatles said, money can't buy me love.

07:06And he does not feel any love in Atlanta right now.

07:08It can buy me love.

07:09He feels betrayed in Atlanta.

07:10Oh, yeah, it can.

07:11Feels betrayed.

07:11Buy me love.

07:12Let's move to the NBA.

07:13Today, specifically the Orlando Magic, who haven't won a playoff series since 2010

07:18when Dwight Howard was on that team.

07:21Orlando just signed their best player, Paolo Boncaro, to a five-year, $239 million extension.

07:28Orlando has locked up their core players, Boncaro, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs, for the next

07:32five years.

07:33Plus, they just traded for Desmond Bain.

07:35He's locked up for four years.

07:36Wilbon, do you like Orlando's chances this coming year of becoming the Thunder of the

07:41East?

07:42No, not this coming year.

07:44No, the Thunder didn't do this overnight.

07:46The Thunder got Hartenstein and they got Alex Caruso this year after having all J-Dub and,

07:53of course, SGA, the MVP, and Lou Dort.

07:56They already had those guys.

07:57And even then, Sam Presti had to add more to get them over the top to the championship.

08:01So, no, this doesn't happen in a year.

08:03I love where Orlando is going with all the people you just mentioned.

08:07And we know that the Celtics and the Pacers are going to take a step back in all probability.

08:15So, what that leaves is largely the Knicks and Cavaliers.

08:19If somebody else could emerge, I think it's too soon for Atlanta, but somebody could emerge

08:23in the East.

08:24So, I think Orlando's going to be in the mix.

08:27Could they threaten for a while?

08:29No, they look good, particularly after the All-Star break.

08:31I believe so.

08:32Next year?

08:34No.

08:34It's going to take a while for that.

08:36So, I'm going to do a comparative study here.

08:39I mean, what is implied to me by being the Thunder of the East is that you are a team,

08:44a young team, with selfless players and one potential great star.

08:50You've been not very good for a while, and then through a series of drafts and trades,

08:54you got to be very good.

08:56Could Orlando do that in the East?

08:58I would tell you they could, but Detroit has a better chance of doing it than they have.

09:03Detroit, that's where I'm glad you mentioned that.

09:05Because they're the same sort of team.

09:05They're the same sort of team.

09:07And Detroit won three more regular season games last year than Orlando, and they got

09:11a guy in Cade Cunningham who fits that same bill.

09:15Now, I mean, I dread talking about the NBA for 12 months of the year.

09:19I'll make an exception today and talk about it.

09:21What we are seeing on the East is not teams rising, Mike, as you alluded to.

09:25It's teams falling.

09:26It's teams falling.

09:27It's Indiana falling.

09:29It's Boston falling.

09:30It's Milwaukee falling because they are not a cohesive team.

09:33It's Philadelphia having fallen because Embiid and George don't get on the court.

09:39It's Miami having fallen because Jimmy Butler sabotaged the team.

09:43So, it's just a vacuum at the top other than Cleveland.

09:47Cleveland is a genuinely good team.

09:49The Knicks.

09:49I don't think the Knicks are as good as you think they are.

09:53I don't.

09:54I mean, I think Cleveland is.

09:56But nobody's rising as much as everybody's falling.

09:59Let's take a break.

10:00Coming up, what's wrong with the Yankees?

10:02Well, hold on there, Sparky.

10:03Hold on.

10:03We're going to go to a break.

10:05Go ahead.

10:07Not everybody's falling.

10:09Detroit's not falling.

10:11The Knicks aren't falling.

10:12They just got to the conference final.

10:14What?

10:15I don't think they're as good as you do, and I don't think they're as good as Cleveland.

10:19I think Cleveland's good.

10:20I think they're good.

10:21We got eliminated.

10:22It's good.

10:24Everybody got eliminated at some point.

10:27We're also asking whether a team could put together a trade offer for Paul Skeens that

10:32the Pirates could not refuse.

10:35Did you just mention Detroit?

10:36They're not falling?

10:38I mentioned Detroit.

10:40I should get credit, extra credit, and I have a...

10:42We've got some baseball questions for our great friend ESPN MLB analyst and a man who

10:52knows more about avocados than anyone I know, Mr. Tim Kirkton.

10:55Let's start with this.

10:56The Yankees, Tim, have lost 16 of their last 23 games.

11:00They're now three and a half games behind Toronto in the American League East.

11:04Is this a blip on the screen or is something broken with the Yankees?

11:11Well, it's a little of both, Tony.

11:12They can't be this bad.

11:14I think they're going to recover.

11:16I still think they're going to win the division, but they were not a great team to start the

11:21season.

11:22I think they played a little bit over their heads the first couple months, but now with

11:26their pitching so injured, no Garrett Cole, no Luis Heal, and now Clark Schmidt now for the

11:32rest of the season, that is catching up to them, plus some injuries in the bullpen.

11:37And also, Tony, they lead the league in runs scored, but you could still pitch to this team.

11:43It's still certain nights, an all-or-nothing team.

11:45Remember, earlier this year, they got shut out three games in a row, and in a six-game span,

11:51they scored seven runs.

11:53When Aaron Judge isn't great, this team really struggles offensively, but I think they're

11:59going to pull it back together in a very ordinary American League East and still find a way to

12:04win it.

12:06All right, Tim, let's get out of New York and go to Houston, where the Astros have won

12:1111 of 14.

12:13They keep losing, people.

12:15Don't have Alvarez now.

12:16Bregman gone.

12:17All-star somewhere else.

12:19Of course, an all-star in Chicago who is glittering and we want to hold on to from the Astros in

12:25the trade, is their scouting, they just keep replacing people, Tim, is their scouting that

12:31much better than everybody else's?

12:36Well, they're really good at that.

12:38But what they do, Michael, better than anyone, really, is they pitch exceptionally well.

12:42They have the fifth-highest, fifth-lowest ERA in the major leagues.

12:47The league is hitting .224 off their pitching staff.

12:50They have nine shutouts.

12:52Hunter Brown, who most people aren't sure who he is, he has a .182 ERA.

12:58He leads the National League, American League, and he is going to the all-star game.

13:03Frambois Valdez has won 10 games.

13:06That's the most in the American League.

13:08I don't know how anyone ever gets a hit off the combination of his sinker and his curveball,

13:14plus they have power arms all the way through the bullpen.

13:17And I can't believe they are this good with the injuries they've had to their everyday

13:23lineup, and yet they just pitch their way through, as they've done many times the last

13:2810 years.

13:29Speaking of pitching, we keep hearing that Pittsburgh will not even entertain trading Paul

13:35skeins.

13:36But, Tim, is there anybody out there trying to put together some offer that will just

13:42knock the Pirates down and at least make them listen?

13:46I'm not sure that team is out there, Michael, because we're talking about Paul skeins.

13:54He is the best pitcher that I've seen come to the major leagues, at least for the first

13:59full year, 45 starts or so, that I've ever seen in the 45 years that I've covered.

14:06That's how good this guy is and is going to continue to be.

14:11I mean, he's huge, he throws 100, he added a cutter in the offseason, he's wildly competitive,

14:16and the Pirates are in such hot water with their fans.

14:20He is the reason you come to Pirate Games.

14:23If they were to trade him now for like a package of great young players, I just don't think that's

14:30going to work.

14:30You're going to have to get major league ready players for him.

14:34And how many are that going to take, and how are the Pirates going to afford that?

14:39So, I just don't see at this moment a scenario where some team comes in, bowls over the Pirates,

14:46and gets Paul skeins.

14:49All right, we will get you out of here on this.

14:52Umpire Phil Cousley appeared to miss a lot of balls and strikes last night in the Phillies-Giants game.

14:58Formal appeals could be coming next year, you know, with that robotic screen like in tennis,

15:04and yet we are told that players are against this.

15:08Why are players against this formal appeal?

15:13Well, the ones that I've talked to and others in the game feel like the players don't want

15:19the responsibility and the accountability of being in charge of a challenge on a ball or a strike,

15:27because they worry, do I know the strike zone well enough in order to be in charge of a challenge?

15:34And what if I challenge in the second inning and we lose a challenge?

15:39I had a major league manager tell me this year that in spring training, he thought the overriding

15:45point was that most players realized the umpires are better than they think, meaning a hitter goes,

15:53there's no way that's a strike, and then they run the replay, and it is a strike.

15:58That's my feeling that a lot of the players look at it and not sure they're confident enough

16:04in their understanding of the strike zone to therefore be in charge of a challenge system.

16:10They want somebody else to do it for them, but the manager can't do that,

16:14and the manager shouldn't have to do that.

16:16Yeah, they don't want to put themselves on the line, obviously.

16:20Thank you, Tim, as always.

16:22Thank you, Tim.

16:22Appreciate it.

16:24Thank you, fellas.

16:26Let's take one last break.

16:28Still to come, Manny Machado hits a milestone.

16:30And a big matchup, young versus old on the mound tonight in Milwaukee.

16:37Tony, it looks weird in Wimbledon when you don't have lines people out there.

16:42What about a diamond with no home plate umpire?

16:46Wouldn't that look crazy?

16:48Yeah, but you'd have to have a home plate umpire for a play at the plate.

16:52So he would still physically...

16:56Happy time, people.

16:58Happy 29th birthday, Marlon Humphrey.

17:01The Ravens cornerback has played all eight of his NFL seasons in Baltimore.

17:05He was drafted 16th overall in 2017 out of Alabama, where he won a national title in 2015.

17:12Humphrey was first-team All-Pro this past season.

17:14He has been a Pro Bowler four times.

17:17Humphrey said last month that he has let the defensive standard of the Ravens slip.

17:21He said, quote,

17:22Obviously, we love Lamar Jackson.

17:24He's a great player.

17:26But I want the Ravens' identity to be defense like it was when I got here, unquote.

17:31Humphrey is right.

17:31The most famous Raven ever is Ray Lewis.

17:34Next is likely Ed Reed.

17:36That's how the Ravens won two Super Bowls.

17:38On defense.

17:38Yeah, there's no arguing that.

17:41And those are the two.

17:42I guess Lamar Jackson in the fame game might rise above Ed Reed.

17:47But Ed Reed was so great, people should not forget.

17:50And we know how great Ray Lewis was.

17:51And yes, the Ravens' calling card is defense.

17:54Happy anniversary, Ted Williams.

17:58This is posthumous, but on this day 84 years ago, with the American League All-Stars down to their last out, Williams hit a three-run walk-off homer to end the 1941 All-Star game.

18:09Among the first to greet the splendid splinter as he crossed home plate was his Yankee rival, Joe DiMaggio, who reached second base on an error to keep the game going right before Williams came through.

18:19Decades later, Williams wrote in his autobiography, quote, I've never been so happy, and I've never seen so many happy guys.

18:27I had hit what remains to this day the most thrilling hit of my life, unquote.

18:31That summer of 1941 may have been baseball's greatest, as Williams hit 406 and DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games.

18:40The All-Star games of my youth were so exciting, and I'm talking about now in the 60s, in the 70s, maybe into the early 80s.

18:51I couldn't sleep as a kid before an All-Star game, and now, even though baseball's All-Star game is the best of what's left, it ain't what it used to be either.

19:00We see so much, and we see people play each other across leagues.

19:05I don't know what's left.

19:06You know what else ain't what it used to be? Me and you.

19:10Happy trails to Manny Machado's weight for hit number 2000.

19:15The Padres' third baseman singled in the fourth inning of last night's loss to the Diamondbacks for career hit 2000.

19:21Machado had been struggling recently, admitted the quest had been hurting him at the plate.

19:25But he went three for five last night, including an eighth inning home run for hit number 2001.

19:30Machado turned 33 on Sunday. He still has eight more seasons left on his Padres contract.

19:36He would need to average about 115 hits per to make 3,000.

19:40Said Machado, quote, that's the plan. I'm going to shoot for it.

19:44Well, with health, he ought to get there easily.

19:47Tony, I mean, you would think he'd average 130 or more hits a season.