The Next Dirk Nowitzki? Rising Magic Star Franz Wagner Draws Lofty Comparisons

In his first friendly for the German National last Wednesday against Belgium, second-year forward Franz Wagner scored 23 points on 7/13 shooting to go along with five rebounds.

With his older brother and German National teammate out with an ankle injury, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner has an opportunity to lead his country before turning 21 years old.

“I truly think [Wagner] can be a Dirk Nowitzki like, or Hedo Turkoglu for Turkey type of National Team star for his country,” The Penny and Pops Podcast said. “[Wagner] has the tools, it's about him not deferring so much to his more experienced but less talented teammates, he is the best player for Germany, not [Dennis Schroder], not [Daniel Theis].”

And in his first outing for Germany last Wednesday, a friendly against Belgium in preparation for Eurobasket, Wagner looked like the best player on the floor, finishing with a team-high 23 points on 7/13 shooting along with five rebounds.

But unfortunately for Magic and German basketball fans, the team will be without the elder Wagner, as Mo suffered an ankle injury prior to last week's friendly and will be held out indefinitely.

The loss of the 6-11 Wagner will be a huge loss for Germany as he averaged 14.3 points to go along with four rebounds in four Olympic qualifying games last year.

“I’ll tell it like it is, this one hurts,” [Mo] Wagner said. “For years I was looking forward to this tournament and this opportunity to play in Germany in Cologne and my city of Berlin with my brother at the home European championship is something that I dreamed of for a long time.”

Franz will be back in action this weekend for the DBB Supercup Friendly Tournament with match-ups against the Czech Republic on Friday and either Serbia or Italy on Saturday.