Orlando Magic Playbook: Franz Wagner still can improve so much

It is OK if Franz Wagner looks like a rookie on occasion.

The 20-year-old forward is still learning the league and how to get through an 82-game season. It seems inevitable he will hit that rookie wall again.

Or maybe it is not.

Maybe it is clearer that he is going to plow through it and find a way to contribute nonetheless. He is going to feel out some of his weaknesses and improve upon them and still make the right plays to help his team win. Even as his role continues to increase.

And that is why Magic fans are suddenly buzzing about this rookie. It is still really unclear what his ceiling is. But the only thing that is clear is that Wagner keeps raising the bar on things he can do.

Thursday’s 20-point performance, his 15th straight with at least 10 points, was another seeming burst of youthful energy and potential. Another display of how Wagner just fits in and makes everything work better for this team.

Franz Wagner continues to impress as he figures out and succeeds at whatever challenge the Orlando Magic throw at him. That includes improving his lone apparent weakness.

It is getting harder and harder to find words to describe Wagner and how he is able to help this Magic team. He keeps raising the bar for what seems possible and discovering new parts to his game.

Whether that was the playmaking the Magic were forced to put him into with the team’s depleted guard ranks or the increased scoring they have asked of him, Wagner has had to change and shift his game in significant ways.

As many people have pointed out, the Magic probably were happy to bring him along slowly and let him develop as a background player. But all the injuries have pushed the Magic to challenge Wagner and trust him more.

Not that Wagner has not earned that trust. The Magic gave him more because he could clearly handle more.

Wagner is averaging 15.0 points per game, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this season while shooting 44.3-percent from the floor and 35.0-percent from deep. He is posting a 49.3-percent effective field goal percentage.

That shooting percentage is about the only thing that has made him feel like a rookie this season. Rookies are not exactly known for efficiency. And Wagner’s biggest struggles have come in his attacks to the rim. That might be the one area he has to improve.

Still, Wagner has impressed despite this.

In Wagner’s last 15 games, he is averaging 18.1 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 46.1-percent from the floor and 33.3-percent from deep. All this on an increased 15.2 field goal attempts per game.

Wagner ranks near the top of the league in almost every measure for rookies. And it is important to keep that framework for now. He is still a rookie and prone to mistakes and with plenty of room for improvement.

That was really on full display in Thursday’s game.

Wagner’s biggest area for improvement remains his finishing on drives.

He has proven to be very good at getting to the basket. He averages 10.0 adjusted drives per 75 possessions, according to Basketball-Index, and 5.6 total shots at the rim per 75 possessions. Both are in the top quarter of the league.

However, he shoots only 56.7-percent at the rim and generally has a poor shot quality.

It is often on plays looking like this:

There is no denying Wagner has a great ability to get around defenders and create space for himself in the paint. While data from Basketball Index still suggests teams are willing to leave Wagner open from deep, when teams do close out on him, he is good at giving a fake and getting around them.

According to data from Second Spectrum, Franz Wagner is behind only B.J. Johnson among wing players in paint touches, averaging 1.7 per game. He is behind only the Magic’s two point guards — Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs — in drives per game with 8.9 per game.

Driving and finishing in general are areas the Magic could improve a ton more in. But Wagner especially has struggled, making only 43.0-percent on 5.8 attempts per game on drives. Wagner leads the team on field goal attempts on drives.

Wagner tends to do a good job creating space and getting himself into the paint. But he will often finish off-balanced.

This is one of the few areas where Wagner looks like he speeds up and struggles with the pressure that comes with being a young player in the league. He will improve upon all this as the game continues to slow down for him and as he adds strength.

The signs he can get there are already pretty apparent and were largely apparent in the third quarter when he scored 17 of his 20 points in the game.

Some of the Magic’s best moments in Thursday came when they were able to control and pick up their pace. That started with some good defense. And Wagner was a beneficiary of a lot of this. He is really good at getting out in transition.

Despite what was mentioned before with his struggles to finish, a lot of that has to do with strength and balance. It is less about body control.

Wagner has very good body control. He is able to squeeze himself into some tough spots to create shots. And he has shown that time and time again.

This play is very difficult. Wagner catches the ball while the team is in transition and stops to set up his man. He pulls off a nice hesitation move to get the defender off balance and is able to get downhill toward the basket. He absorbs the contact and finishes the lay-in.

Everything looks smooth and it feels like Wagner knows where he is in relation to the basket at all times.

Between this move and some of the step-through moves he is able to do, he can be a really crafty and creative finisher. The big thing is that he gets downhill.

When he has to stop and reset his balance is when he gets in trouble around the rim.

No rookie is perfect. And the fact Wagner is still playing so well with these obvious areas for improvement is a sign of just how good he can be.

Being able to hit shots off balance at the rim, absorb contact and draw fouls are all areas that the best players are good at. Wagner has shown potential to do all of this. And thus there is a lot of excitement for him offensively.

The next phases of his game will involve being able to stop and hit a mid-range jumper off the dribble as teams overplay him for the drive, becoming more consistent from beyond the arc and getting to the foul line more consistently.

This will probably develop one piece at a time. Do not expect Wagner to add all of these things all at once or in one summer. Let alone one season.

It is still really important to remember he is a rookie.

Wagner is going to find points because of his basketball IQ. He is really good at running the floor and timing his cuts to get to the basket. That is going to create scoring opportunities regardless of any further improvements he will inevitably make.

Wagner has already shown plenty of acumen defensively. And even that will continue to get better as he improves his strength. Just like everything else.

What has been impressive about Wagner is how he has these big scoring bursts. His shot gets rolling, he gets downhill and he finishes. That is something the Magic are going to continue to build on. It is obviously very exciting.

Because Wagner still has so many areas he can improve upon. There is no reason to think he will not get better at these things. Even within games, he shows that he can and he will take that next step.