The Magic and veteran free agent Moritz Wagner have agreed to a one-year, $5MM deal that will see the big man return to Orlando, according to reports from Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel and Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The older brother of Magic star Franz Wagner, Moritz has been with the team for four-plus seasons, having originally signed late in the 2020/21 campaign.
Wagner appeared well on his way to a career year in 2024/25, with averages of 12.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game and a shooting line of .562/.360/.718 through 30 contests. However, a torn left ACL in December prematurely brought his season to an end.
Faced with an increasingly expensive roster – and with Wagner still recovering from that ACL tear – Orlando declined its $11MM team option on the 6’11” forward/center last weekend, but there was always an expectation that the club wanted to bring him back at a reduced rate. With his Bird rights in hand, the Magic have the ability to re-sign Wagner without using any mid-level or bi-annual exception money.
Wagner will have the ability to veto a trade in 2025/26, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That right is automatically awarded to a player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year deal or a two-year deal with a second-year option, though many players agree to waive that veto ability as part of their contract agreement (as Wagner did a year ago).
Having traded for Desmond Bane last month and agreed to sign Tyus Jones in free agency earlier this week, Orlando now projects to operate in luxury-tax territory for the 2025/26 season.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter), the Magic only have enough room below their first-apron hard cap to sign second-round pick Noah Penda or a veteran-minimum player as their 14th man, but not both, unless perhaps Jones’ and Wagner’s deals come in a little lower than reported.
Who wins the upcoming Eurobasket tournament?
I got Germany (gold), France (silver), Turkiye (bronze)
Don’t sleep on this team… link to eurohoops.net
Appreciate the input!
I’d say France wins. Maybe Turkey upsets for Bronze.
France probably won’t win. Victor won’t play. Sarr is one of the most destructive players in basketball at this point in his career. If he’s their big, they won’t get far. Lessort will probably play at the C.
Serbia always had a good chance, even if Jokic doesn’t play.
But I say Germany gets the gold.
I got Luxembourg. They have a sneaky good team.
Great offseason for the Magic. Almost perfect. Not sure they could have done better. Awesome.
Mo is still recovering from the ACL surgery, and most likely, he will start playing again after the All-Star week, so 5 mil is a good deal for both sides.
Good for Orlando and for the player. They played some of their best basketball last season before he got injured.