NBA My Apologies To Franz Wagner
Let me state my apologies to Franz Wagner. I did not believe in you as an NBA player. I believe I might have called you boring, average, didn’t have one exceptional skill to your name. Let me be the first to say, “I’m sorry.”
Give all the credit to the Orlando Magic staff. Wagner, thus far, has been a steal for Orlando. While it is hard to classify anyone who was drafted near or before their projected draft range as a steal, it feels Orlando might have cheated the system. This organization did its homework. We need to look at Wagner as a potential rookie of the year.
I valued shooters such as Corey Kispert and Trey Murphy III more than Wagner. Kispert was (IMO) a lock to take on a Kyle Korver, Joe Harris role in an offense. He was a guaranteed 3-point marksman who could move across the floor. (Thus far, I’ve been wrong). Murphy was a solid 3-and-D wing, who I really fell in love with later on in the draft process. I suppose Wagner never struck me as a surefire 3-point marksman or a guy who can be a true lockdown 3-and-D (I’m starting to look stupid there as well).
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In all honesty, I didn’t really think much of Wagner. He was a 6’9 wing, who in today’s NBA, you’d have to believe would be looked at as a PF/SF. Wagner didn’t strike me as someone who could hang down low, not with his frame. I also didn’t think he was valuable running through screens. Wagner was always a catch-and-shoot player. I guess I just figured he’d be one of those sedentary players who was instructed to not leave the 3-point line.
Wagner struck me who, at his best, was a player who can set a screen, roll-off, and set up for 3 (almost in a specialist role off the bench). Yes, that’s essentially what he is. Of his 3-point attempts this season, 36.7 percent of his field goals are catch-and-shoot 3’s. That’s pretty on point with what I thought he’d profile as. Wagner also shoots 51.9 percent of shots from less than 10 feet. I didn’t expect that. Ideally, he looks to extend his mod-range game.
Let’s look at Wagner as a complete player. He’s not going to be a banger inside unless he adds more muscle. He looks to be developing a mid-range game to go along with his outside and close-range shot. His scoring ability has seemingly shown improvement. Wagner does need to create for his own. He’s not going to succeed at this pace as a primary catch-and-shoot player.
Why am I apologizing to Franz Wagner? I knew he was a primary catch-and-shoot guy with limited ability to create his own shot. I now firmly believe that Wagner is going to add the mid-range shot to his repertoire. I’m less convinced on him being able to create for himself, but he’s already proving me wrong. I will also call myself out for this, however, I did not realize Wagner was such a willing creator for others. That’s an aspect of his game I overlooked.
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I do not think Franz Wagner is a star. I still think he’s best suited as a stretch 4/5 who can come out to the top of the key for an easy screen-and-roll 3-pointer, however, I don’t think he adds the muscle to play down low. This is part of my reasoning for believing he’s a tweener. I do see enough of his game thus far to lead me to believe Wagner is going to be better than advertised. I don’t think we see that true potential, nor do I think we see him really tap into that 6’9 frame. For Orlando, if Wagner continues to work on his shot selection, works at creating for himself, and really embraces that playmaker mentality, we could be seeing a very valuable piece to their future.
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
