Franz Wagner Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Magic Notes: F. Wagner, M. Wagner, Banchero, Bane

December 10th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Wagner brothers are both sidelined with injuries, but they were able to distribute Christmas gifts to children from an Orlando area youth center on Wednesday, writes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). Speaking to the media for the first time since suffering a high left ankle sprain in Sunday’s game at New York, Franz Wagner expressed relief that the injury wasn’t worse and called it “just a little bump in the road in the grand scheme of things.” Expected to be out of action for two-to-four weeks, he wore a boot on his left foot and had to use crutches to move around at the event.

“Kind of mixed feelings,” he said. “Super relieved, but at the same time, bummed that I’m going to be out for a couple weeks. Definitely caught a break there a little bit and I’m blessed that it’s just a high ankle sprain.

Moritz Wagner is nearing the one-year anniversary of the ACL tear in his left knee that he suffered last December 21. He’s continuing to do rehab work and expressed hope that he’ll be able to return sometime soon.

“I’m doing really good,” he said. “I’m feeling really good about where I’m at, finding the joy again of playing basketball and enjoying the process a little more.”

There’s more from Orlando:

Coach Jamahl Mosley has plenty of experience in surviving without one of his star forwards, Beede notes in a separate story. Paolo Banchero just returned Friday after missing 10 games with a groin strain, and Franz Wagner suffered a torn abdominal muscle last season that sidelined him for 20 games. “You always lean on the things that have happened in the past a little bit to take that experience,” Mosley said. “But we’ve got to learn from it. What are we going to do? And how are we going to play? You don’t want to see anybody go down, but we talked about our depth and our defense being our strong suits, so our guys are going to have to step up to the plate, depending on how long guys are out for.”
Banchero remained on a minutes restriction for Tuesday’s NBA Cup win over Miami, Beede tweets. He played 32 minutes and finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Desmond Bane has brought a “dawg mentality” to the Magic with his competitive nature, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Bane scored 37 points in Tuesday’s victory, marking the third time in the past six games that he’s reached that figure. “(We) understood that we had to get back to our identity: smash-mouth basketball on both sides of the floor,” he said. “Once we started playing that way, everything started turning for us. We just rode that trend all the way through.”
Bane and his teammates will receive a financial bonus for advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals, and he joked, “I just lost $35,000. I gotta go get it back somehow” (Twitter video link from Underdog NBA), referring to the fine he received for throwing the ball at OG Anunoby on Sunday.

Magic’s Franz Wagner Has High Ankle Sprain

December 8th, 2025 at 2:45pm CST by Rory Maher

December 8: Wagner has a high left ankle sprain, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. According to Charania, an MRI conducted on Monday showed no structural damage on his left leg, and the Magic forward is expected to be out two-to-four weeks.

December 7: Star forward Franz Wagner appeared to suffer a significant injury in the first quarter of Sunday’s matinee game in New York, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.

According to the Magic (Twitter link), Wagner has a lower left leg injury and will miss the remainder of Sunday’s contest. He will be reevaluated when the team returns to Orlando.

The injury occurred on a fast break (YouTube link). After poking the ball away from Jalen Brunson, Wagner was the first player down the court and positioned himself near the basket. Teammate Anthony Black threw up an alley-oop attempt for Wagner, but Knicks big man Ariel Hukporti swatted the pass away, fouling Wagner in the process. Wagner fell awkwardly and immediately grabbed his left knee in pain.

Hukporti, a fellow German, clearly felt badly about Wagner’s injury and checked in with him. After staying down on the floor for an extended period, Wagner was helped off the court by older brother Moritz Wagner and rookie Noah Penda. He was unable to put weight on his left leg.

It’s a potentially devastating development for the Magic, who just got Paolo Banchero back from a groin strain on Friday. Wagner was off to a terrific start to the season, averaging 23.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals on .487/.354/.823 shooting through 23 games (34.5 minutes per contest).

Wagner, who has been wearing a face mask after breaking his nose in November, was nominated for the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month award for October/November.

Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham Earn Player Of The Month Honors

December 2nd, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham are the NBA’s Players of the Month for October/November, earning the honor for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, per an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

It’s the ninth time that Jokic has won a Player of the Month award over the course of his 11-year career. He earned it in this case with a superlative start to the season that saw him comfortably average a triple-double – 28.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game – while leading Denver to a 14-5 record.

Jokic’s shooting percentages were arguably even more remarkable than his per-game averages, as he shot 63.7% from the field and converted 45.3% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets star came out on top of a competitive field that included nominees like fellow MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Lakers. Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were also nominated for Player of the Month in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, meanwhile, Cunningham’s Pistons have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season’s first six weeks. While Detroit was viewed as a strong playoff contender, few NBA observers expected the team to win 16 of its first 20 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference at the end of November.

Cunningham was the driving force behind the Pistons’ hot start, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game across 17 outings, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 81.5% from the free throw line.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat guard Norman Powell, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which Cunningham won for the first time in his career.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell Named Players Of The Week

November 24th, 2025 at 2:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (Twitter links).

Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champions to four wins during the week of November 17-23 while averaging 31.0 points and 6.5 assists per contest and shooting 60% from the field and 64.3% from beyond the arc. Oklahoma City was +82 in SGA’s 125 minutes on the court last week.

Gilgeous-Alexander also earned Player of the Week honors three weeks ago and is the second repeat winner of the award this season, joining Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Mitchell posted averages of 31.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as the Cavaliers went 3-1 this past week. He opened and closed the week with matching 37-point performances against the Bucks and Clippers, going 14-of-22 from the field in each of those two outings.

Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Luka Doncic (Lakers), De’Aaron Fox (Spurs), James Harden (Clippers) and Jokic (Nuggets) were the other Western Conference nominees for Player of the Week.

Jalen Duren (Pistons), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Brandon Ingram (Raptors), Kon Knueppel (Hornets), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Norman Powell and Kel’el Ware (Heat), Ryan Rollins (Bucks) and Franz Wagner (Magic) were also nominated in the East.

Southeast Notes: Whitmore, Coulibaly, F. Wagner, Howard, Sexton

November 12th, 2025 at 7:26pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets were thrilled when Cam Whitmore was still on the board at No. 20 in the 2023 draft, but his two seasons in Houston were marked by inconsistent playing time with occasional flashes of brilliance. With the Wizards visiting Toyota Center tonight, coach Ime Udoka told reporters there was a “number crunch” working against Whitmore, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle.

“We’ve kind of always had depth since I’ve been here, and he kind of got caught in that shuffle,” Udoka said. “And then just some of the things we stressed offensively, defensively for improvement we wanted to see (from) him and he’d be a little up and down with that. But happy for the opportunity he’s getting now and hopefully takes advantage of that.”

It likely would have been even harder for Whitmore to earn regular minutes in the wake of the Kevin Durant trade, so the Rockets opted to deal him to Washington in July in exchange for a pair of second-round picks. Whitmore got off to a slow start with his new team, but he has scored 19 and 20 points in his last two outings.

“Going to a new situation with a young team, it’s going to take a little bit of time, and just him being young in his career as well, but (he has) all the talent and potential in the world,” Udoka said. “And so just to kind of see what he did the last two games, and that’s what Cam has done when he gets regular opportunity.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Wizards coach Brian Keefe said forward Bilal Coulibaly is making progress toward returning from a bruised left calf, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post (Twitter link). Shankar adds that Coulibaly was doing “limited work” at the end of this morning’s shootaround. He’s missing his fourth straight game tonight, and Keefe didn’t offer a timetable for when he might be ready to play.
Magic forward Franz Wagner plans to wear a mask “for a couple games, probably” after suffering a broken nose on Monday, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Wagner wasn’t listed on the injury report for tonight’s game in New York, and his teammates aren’t surprised that he decided to keep playing. “He looks savage with the mask,” Paolo Banchero said. “Unfortunate that he has the nose injury, but Franz is a warrior. He’s not going to sit out for nothing. I didn’t even know he broke the nose.”
Jett Howard has barely been used for most of the season, but he played 19 minutes in Monday’s win over Portland, Beede adds in the same piece. The forward’s NBA future is uncertain after the Magic declined his fourth-year option, but he’s determined to find ways to help the team. “I’m just trying to stay mentally level as much as possible and just control what I can control,” Howard said.
Collin Sexton has been a valuable addition for the Hornets, but hasn’t been seeing many minutes during crunch time. Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer explores the reason for that.

Magic Notes: Bane, Banchero, F. Wagner, Black, Howard

October 8th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic took a major gamble by trading for Desmond Bane, but Paolo Banchero believes the high-scoring guard is exactly what Orlando needs to be a serious contender in the East, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The team sent a lot of assets to Memphis in return, parting with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and a first-round swap. Banchero has no doubt that Bane will be worth the high price.

“It’s a great fit for who we are as a team,” he said. “He adds what we’re missing, and he also adds to what we already have. It’s like the perfect match. We don’t have anybody who can make shots like him, who can kind of leverage the way he is able to make shots, then make plays for others and get downhill and create. He’s a Swiss Army knife just as a player, as a guard. He is stronger than 99 percent of the guards in the league with how he’s built. He’s going to fit into what we do.”

Bane tells Spears that he received a Father’s Day text from Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman, along with a request to talk right away. Kleiman followed up by FaceTiming him to break the news of the trade. Even though Bane was caught by surprise after spending his first five NBA seasons in Memphis, he insists there’s “no bad blood at all” and he’s happy to be in a good situation in Orlando. He also regrets that the Grizzlies weren’t able to make a long playoff run while the foundation of the team was together.

“I feel like we never really got a chance to see what it would be like for a full season with our core and everybody healthy,” Bane said. “But you can only wait so long. In this business, you only got so many years to make something happen.”

There’s more from Orlando:

Jamahl Mosely had Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner serve as coaches during Wednesday’s scrimmage, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. Suggs is still recovering from a left knee trochlea cartilage tear that ended his season in January, while Wagner is rehabbing a torn ACL in his left knee. Since they couldn’t participate in the scrimmage, Mosely decided to give them a different perspective. “It’s huge because it talks about communicating,” he said. “It keeps communication as the high priority. You’ve got to be able to communicate with your teammates the things that you see, what you want, the standard that we’ve set. I’ve said this before but it’s easy for coaches to say things, to put things on boards, to watch it on film … It becomes real when these guys can repeat it back to you and they can repeat the message of what they’re calling themselves to do.”
Franz Wagner sat out the first preseason contest after an active summer at EuroBasket, but he’s hoping to get back on the court in at least one of the next three games, Beede adds. “Yeah, I definitely want to play, get out there with the guys and get a couple minutes,” Wagner said. “Not that much time before the first real game.”
In a separate story, Beede examines the importance of this season for Anthony Black and Jett Howard, who will both become eligible for rookie scale extensions next summer.

Magic Notes: Richardson, Banchero, Bane, Wagner

October 5th, 2025 at 9:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Magic played their preseason opener on Saturday, picking up a 126-118 win over the Heat. While preseason action can only tell you so much, Orlando was able to get some valuable information on some of their new guys, as well as seeing their roster mainstays in action.

One of the standouts of the game was rookie guard Jase Richardson, writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel (subscriber link).

The 25th pick in the 2025 draft, Richardson came out of the gate cold and later admitted to feeling the nerves in his first real NBA action, but he quickly settled into the rhythm of the game. He finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three, along with four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

“There’s just a level of confidence that he possesses reading the game, recognizing what guys are doing and how they’re playing him,” said head coach Jamahl Mosley. “His speed is such a big advantage for him, but then the other side of it is we talked all the time about how inquisitive he is and how he wants to know what to do in any situation.”

While the backup point guard spot will likely be primarily manned by Tyus Jones once Jalen Suggs recovers from injury, Richardson’s ability to function as an on- or off-ball player could help him carve out a role sooner rather than later if he’s able to maintain his aggression and shooting efficiency.

We have more from the Magic:

Paolo Banchero is known as an offensive star, but his biggest impact against the Heat came on the defensive end. Beede writes that it wasn’t simply the three blocks in 13 minutes that were encouraging, but also the manner in which they came: one in isolation, another as a weak side rotation, and finally a chase-down block in transition. “That’s what it’s going to take for us to win at the highest level,” Mosely said. “If he plays with that energy and effort each and every single night defensively, it’s going to be a long night for a lot of people.”
The trade to acquire sharp-shooting guard Desmond Bane was clearly made to bring more shooting to the Magic’s offense, which has struggled with efficiency in recent years. In his first action with the team, Bane provided more than floor spacing, according to Beede, who says Orlando’s new wing also helped push the pace in transition and opened up looks for teammates with his ability to catch and attack with the ball. Beede adds that the chemistry between former teammates Bane and Jones was immediately noticeable. Given his gravity as a shooter, that ability should help generate offense for a team that, at times, got bogged down in mid-range-heavy isolation play last season.
Franz Wagner, Banchero’s co-star, missed the preseason opener, but according to Beede, this wasn’t due to an injury, but rather was an assigned rest following his run to the gold medal with Germany at EuroBasket.

Magic Notes: F. Wagner, Carter, Black, Richardson

October 2nd, 2025 at 4:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Fresh off winning a gold medal with Germany at EuroBasket 2025, Magic forward Franz Wagner is elated to have an opportunity to play an NBA game in his home country in January when Orlando faces Memphis in Berlin, as Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel writes. Wagner is also embracing loftier expectations after the Magic’s offseason trade for Desmond Bane.

“Our expectations should be higher than any of the other years,” the 6’10” forward said this week. “I mean, we added Desmond Bane [and] some other really good players to the roster. Talent-wise, mentality-wise, we should go into the year thinking like a contender — not cutting ourselves short and believing in the chance that we’ve got.”

While Wagner took a significant step forward in many respects last season, he shot below 30% from three-point range for the second year in a row after converting nearly 36% of his outside looks over his first two campaigns. He’s hoping to show his offseason work paid off entering 2025/26, according to Beede.

“I worked a lot on my three,” Wagner said about his summer. “I thought I had stretches in EuroBasket where I shot it a lot better and I think I can be more consistent with that. So, I’m super excited to show that.”

Here’s more on the Magic:

President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman recently spoke glowingly of center Wendell Carter Jr. For his part, the 26-year-old big man says he’s feeling great after a healthy offseason (story via Beede). “My confidence is at an all-time high right now,” Carter said. “I’m feeling good. When I had this summer just to train, it wasn’t necessarily about me becoming a better shooter — I know I can shoot. It wasn’t about me being able to make moves in the post like I know I can do. It was just about me boosting my confidence. Because the more you work, the more you’re on the court, you get out there and you feel like, ‘OK, I know this is going in,’ even if it doesn’t. I know it feels good. I shot a million of these shots throughout the summer.”
Guard Anthony Black feels comfortable in his third training camp with Orlando, according to Beede. The 21-year-old will be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer. “When AB is on his game, in my opinion, he’s one of the best guards in this league,” Carter said. “When he’s playing carefree — not saying careless — when he’s just flowing and relying on his strengths, getting downhill, attacking the basket, shooting open threes, not turning them down, AB is a tough guard. He’s tough to guard for anybody. Anyone else would say that on this team, coaching staff included. When AB is just playing his game, he’s very hard to guard.”
After Thursday’s practice, rookie first-rounder Jase Richardson discussed the physical adjustment of going from college to playing in the NBA and what his role has been so far in training camp (Twitter video links via Beede). “Just being a guy who’s willing to guard,” the 6’3″ guard said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me. I have to show that I can guard, especially at my size.”

Southeast Notes: Suggs, Da Silva, Sarr, Coulibaly, Hawks

September 24th, 2025 at 1:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Magic guard Jalen Suggs admits that the rehab process after knee surgery has made this the most difficult summer of his NBA career, but adds that he’s “feeling really good” as training camp approaches, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Suggs was limited to 35 games last season by a combination of back, quad and knee issues. He was shut down after undergoing surgery in early March and has used the offseason to get his body right again.

“A big part of getting the operation over, just cleaning it, was so that there was no looking back, there was no changing my movement patterns or anything like that,” Suggs said. “Just taking care of it the first time so when coming back when it was time to really play instinctually, which I feel like is part of what my gift is, moving and trusting those instincts, I can do it without a doubt.”

Orlando was hampered by long-term injuries to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner as well as Suggs last season and had to go through the play-in tournament to reach the playoffs. Expectations will be much higher this year with all three stars fully healthy for camp and Desmond Bane added in an offseason trade. Suggs is optimistic that he’ll be able to hold up after a summer of conditioning.

“I’m feeling healthy, feeling strong,” he said. “The rest of my body feels amazing. I have really gotten the time to work on all of it. I think this is the best my upper body has felt in terms of look, of functional strength. … The best that my lower body is feeling. The knee is coming along, but I’m just really getting to work on minute muscles and really detailed parts about my body that have just been overlooked up to this point.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Magic forward Tristan Da Silva got to team up with his brother and bring home a gold medal at EuroBasket, Beede writes in a full story. Wagner and Orlando assistant coach Randy Gregory were also part of the unbeaten German team, and they’re hoping the experience translates to the NBA. “(Head coach Jamahl) Mosley is very intrigued by what we did and wants to learn and wants to see how he can get better off of it,” Da Silva said. “With the way Franz played over the summer, a lot of guys are going to look his way and follow his lead in terms of demeanor and the way they approach the games.”
Wizards center Alex Sarr, who suffered a right calf injury during EuroBasket, will miss the start of training camp, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. It doesn’t sound like a long-term issue, as general manager Will Dawkins told reporters that the team is “hopeful that he’ll see some time towards the end of that.” Dawkins added that Bilal Coulibaly, who underwent thumb ligament surgery earlier this month, is expected to be ready for the first or second week of the regular season (Twitter link).
Ashton Smith, who worked as a player development coach with the Hawks last season, has been promoted to an assistant coach, according to Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

EuroBasket Notes: Schröder, Nowitzki, Wagner, Spanoulis, Awards

September 15th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Dennis Schröder credited Dirk Nowitzki with inspiring the current crop of players who have turned Germany into an international basketball power, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. After capturing MVP honors while leading his team to the gold medal at EuroBasket, Schröder paid tribute to the Mavericks legend, who was a German basketball icon in addition to his 21-year NBA career.

“Dirk, what he’s been doing for the German national team and what he’s done in the NBA and in the national team made us come to the national team and represent our country,” Schröder said.

Nowitzki is one of the greatest players in European history and earned a long list of honors in international competitions. Schröder is also building an impressive resume, adding the EuroBasket gold to the championship he won at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and a bronze medal in the 2022 EuroBasket, but he doesn’t want to be compared to Nowitzki.

“At the end of the day, my name is Dennis Schröder, and I’m just Dennis Schröder, and that’s my legacy,” he said. “Whatever I can bring to the table to make sure my teammates are good and we compete at the highest level and win gold medals. That’s what I’m going to do. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

There’s more from EuroBasket:

German teammate Franz Wagner dedicated the championship to his brother, Moritz Wagner, who was unable to play due to an ACL tear in his left knee that he suffered with Orlando last season, per Pijus Sapetka of BasketNews. Franz said his brother is “super happy” about the gold medal, and he wore Moritz’s jersey during the victory celebration as a way to include him. “Obviously, he had a tough injury, and he’s trying to get back as fast as possible,” Franz said. “Couldn’t be here, but I think everybody on the team knows that he’s part of the group. It’s part of what we’re building.”
Greek coach Vassilis Spanoulis was happy to leave with the bronze, which represents the nation’s first international medal in 16 years, according to Michalis Gioulenoglou of Eurohoops. “This medal belongs to all Greeks,” Spanoulis said. “We wanted to bring basketball to the top again. This generation deserved it. Thank you very much, and I hope this medal returns basketball to the golden era.”
We covered Schröder’s MVP and the naming of the First Five on Sunday, but several other awards were also handed out. FIBA’s EuroBasket website lists Poland’s Jordan Loyd, Turkey’s Cedi Osman, Israel’s Deni Avdija, Finland’s Lauri Markkanen and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic as second-team honorees. In addition, Germany’s Isaac Bonga was named Best Defensive Player, Finland’s Miikka Muurinen received the Rising Star award and Turkey’s Ergin Ataman was recognized as Best Coach. Full standings for all 24 tournament teams have also been released.