ORLANDO, Fla. — The Magic drafted forward Franz Wagner with the eighth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and he has developed into a core player on Orlando’s roster.
What You Need To Know
- Franz Wagner enters his fifth NBA season playing the best basketball of his career
- The forward led Germany to a championship at EuroBasket this summer
- He is averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game after Orlando’s first four games
Although they have struggled to a 1-3 start as they adjust to some new players and a more up-tempo style of play this season, expectations are as high as they have been in more than a decade for the Magic.
“At the end of the day, you work all summer or, really, all your life, to have the opportunity to be on a team like this and have those expectations as a group. It’s time to embrace that,” Wagner said. “At the same time, also tune it out a little bit. At the end of the day, we have to do the work and play good in games.”
Over the summer, Wagner led Germany’s national team to the championship at EuroBasket, one of Europe’s top basketball tournaments.
He comes into this season playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game after the Magic’s first four games. He also is a tenacious defensive player.
“It was really valuable for my experience,” Wagner said. “Obviously, it’s great to win. I think I made huge strides not just as a player but also as a leader on that team. So, I’m looking forward to doing that in Orlando as well.”
The Magic have built their young core mostly through the draft with players who have all come into the NBA around the same time. They have grown up with each other. Now they are learning to win together.
“It’s one of the coolest things about our team because everybody kind of comes in with different expectations and everybody comes in super young and doesn’t really know what’s going on yet,” Wagner said. “So now to be here, be impactful players for the franchise and going into that together, it’s super special.”
