Magic Postseason Profile: Franz Wagner Makes 'Solid Step' in Second Season

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner averaged 18.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his second career season.

ORLANDO - "Playing with Franz is just easy."

Following a preseason win over the Memphis Grizzlies in October, Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero praised forward Franz Wagner's ability to simplify the game.

"I've never really been able to make backdoor cuts and just get easy layups," Banchero said. "And this is only our second game playing together and I can already just feel the difference."

And before the regular season even began, Banchero's statement was a perfect preview for how the duo's 71 regular season games transpired. 

Wagner, a First-Team All Rookie recipient and No. 8 pick in 2021, made major strides across the board following a successful first season. 

Posting 18.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 80 games, the 21-year-old Wagner also knocked down high percentages across the board - posting .485/.361/.842 shooting splits. 

"On the court, I felt like I made a solid step in the right direction on defense," Wagner said. "Being impactful as a help defender as well. Even on the ball, especially the last 20-30 games, I got out of my comfort zone a little bit, I was able to apply a little more pressure. Offensively, I think the game slowed down a little bit for me. Still a lot of things I want to improve upon, a lot of situations where I wish I would've done something else obviously, but overall I think I learned a great deal of things."

Following a summer where he suited up for his home country of Germany in Eurobasket, Wagner still led the Magic in games and starts (80) while ranking second in minutes (32.6). 

Before this season, only 17 players had averaged 30+ minutes and 15+ points over their first 2 seasons since 2000 (min. 155 GP).

14 of the 17 players became all stars.

This year, Franz Wagner became the 18th player to achieve such numbers.#MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/OVTc2cqPXf

— ORLmuse (@ORLmuse) April 15, 2023

Wagner, playing alongside his older brother Moe for the second consecutive year, was not the only member of the family to enjoy a breakout season of sorts. 

The older of the Wagners, who just wrapped up his fifth career season, posted career-highs in minutes (19.5), points (10.5) and FT% (84.1), in his increased role for Orlando. 

"It was really cool," Franz Wagner said. "My mom was here for almost every game. It was a little adjustment for us at the start I think for everybody, but we enjoyed it. It's been a while since we spent so much time together, so it was a really cool time." 

Wagner will look to build upon his sophomore season heading in 2023-24. 

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You can follow Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard.

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