Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) reacts after a basket during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s official: After missing 20 games because of a torn right oblique muscle, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner is available to play basketball again Thursday night.
Wagner missed nearly seven weeks after tearing a right abdominal muscle on Dec. 6. His upgrade to available comes after being listed as questionable on Orlando’s injury report Wednesday.
“I feel really good,” Wagner said Thursday morning at the Magic’s shootaround. “It’s super exciting. Like I said last time, it was pretty challenging mentally and boring as well, so I’m happy to play soon.
“It was a long process and I’m not the most patient person, so [it was] not that easy for me, but it feels good to be done with it.”
The fourth-year forward had appeared in 25 games before the injury, and the Magic were 16-9. Twenty of those games were played without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who had suffered a more severe version of the same injury just five games into the regular season. Wagner was averaging career-high marks before being sidelined — 24.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.7 assists.
As his shot volume and offensive reliance increased in Banchero’s absence, so did the level of his play. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was flying the flag for Wagner to earn a first-ever All-Star selection.
After Banchero missed 34 games and returned on Jan. 10 vs. Milwaukee, the Magic now get Wagner — his fellow 6-foot-10 offensive engine — back to run alongside him. The two shared many details about their recovery processes.
“First of all, to take my time and not rush back,” Wagner said. “Also, be aware that it’s a long time out, and whether it’s conditioning or rhythm, that stuff takes time to get back. So, to give [myself] a little bit of a grace period [and] to not expect everything to be back right away.”
But make no mistake: Wagner’s return has been much-anticipated.
“Yeah, it’s good vibes,” rookie forward Tristan da Silva said of the team’s morale Thursday morning. “Obviously we’re all happy to have him back, you know, kind of slowly creeping back in. But it’s good to see more bodies out there and actually have our top players coming back.”
The slumping Magic could use a boost. Entering Thursday’s game — the only one with Portland this season at the Kia Center — Orlando has lost four straight and sits at 23-22 in the Eastern Conference,
Aside from Wagner, the Magic are also waiting on starters Jalen Suggs and Goga Bitadze. The Magic, after losing just 157 total games of player availability all of last season, have already lost 143 games this year because of injury or illness.
As da Silva put it Thursday, the Magic are optimistic about what the fully healthy future holds.
“Looking forward to the games where everybody is back just because we’ve had a massive amount of guys being down,” da Silva said.
“Everybody did their best to keep me in good spirits,” Wagner said. “Obviously, that starts with me as well, but no, the team’s been great.”
“I think that you can recognize who those pieces are that are all coming back, one, but just having a team that’s going to, at some point, be whole,” Mosley said Thursday. “We haven’t been whole other than five games this year, and I think that’s very important for us to register and recognize. So getting guys back slowly, and you see the rehab the guys have done [and] the work they’ve done to get themselves back on the court, but just to join the group again on the court is so important and it does lift guys’ spirits up a ton.”
MORE: Orlando-Portland Injury Report – who’s playing, who’s out for Thursday night?
In the few instances that Banchero and Wagner have shared the floor this season, the Magic have flourished. Per NBA.com’s lineup tool, Banchero and Wagner have played 109 minutes together this season spread across the first five games. In those minutes, the Magic have a +8.3 net rating — 114.2 offensive rating and 105.9 defensive rating.
For context, in the 14 games without either Banchero or Wagner available, Orlando’s net rating was -3.7. In that stretch between Dec. 8 and Jan. 9, the Magic owned the 29th-ranked offense (104.7 rating) and maintained a 108.4 defensive rating.
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Published 38 Minutes Ago|Modified 5:48 PM EST
