Magic Legend Chooses Franz Wagner Over Cade Cunningham For Rookie of the Year

Magic stars from the past supporting Magic stars of the future.

Jeremy Brener | May 25, 2022

Magic Legend Chooses Franz Wagner Over Cade Cunningham For Rookie of the Year /

The NBA released all of the voting information for its awards, and there were a few surprises in store.

Franz Wagner

USATSI_17973200 — Mike Watters/USA Today Sports

Franz Wagner

While the Orlando Magic were absent from most of the awards, rookie forward Franz Wagner received two votes for Rookie of the Year, even over Detroit Pistons guard and No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham finished in 3rd place in the voting comfortably behind Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes and Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, who finished first and second respectively. There was a large gap between Cunningham and the rest of the rookies in the voting: Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, Wagner, and New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones.

Wagner received two third-place votes for his efforts, one from Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel, and the other from Magic legend Dennis Scott, who represents Turner Sports.

Scott was drafted by the Magic with the 4th overall pick in 1990, and spent the first seven seasons of his career with the franchise. He started 15 games during the Magic's NBA Finals run back in 1995 and averaged 14.7 points per game.

This isn't meant to be a knock on Wagner, who had a strong rookie campaign averaging 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. But his numbers weren't as strong as Cunningham's.

Cunningham averaged more points (17.4), rebounds (5.5) and assists (5.6) than Wagner did, while the Pistons (23-59) finished one game better than the Magic (22-60) in the standings.

John Hammond

Jamahl Mosley

Jeff Weltman

It's clear that even a quarter-century after his departure from his Orlando playing days that Scott still has a soft spot for the Magic.

Published May 25, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.