Franz Wagner’s Rookie of the Month could be the start of something special

Franz Wagner seemingly does something every night that just leaves everyone’s jaws dropped.

It is not necessarily a highlight-reel dunk — although Wagner has his share of those — or the 20-plus point games — although he has plenty of those. It is the little plays throughout the game. The unpeeling of new skills and ways the team can use him.

It is the sneaky pocket pass Franz Wagner delivered to Wendell Carter late in the game against the Boston Celtics as the team started sending a double to him. Or the way he consistently bobs through the lane, keeping his dribble alive and the defense off-balance with his defender on his hip before exploding toward the rim.

Even draft evaluators are stunned with how quickly Wagner has developed and the role he has taken on for this team. Wagner just continues to impress and impress.

This is a season that has not seen a lot of tangible results for the Magic. They have struggled to get wins and really show how good they can be.

That is not the case individually for a lot of players. Especially for Wagner.

Franz Wagner got recognized for his strong start to the year, winning the Rookie of the Month for December. Something is different about this though and it feels like Wagner is just getting started.

Wagner won the Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month award after averaging 19.5 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game and 3.1 assists per game in 14 games this month. He shot a 52.2-percent effective field goal percentage including 40.4-percent from deep.

With the Magic dealing with injuries throughout the roster and COVID protocols or the last few weeks, the team had to push Wagner into a featured role. He was on the ball a whole lot more and the team had to use him as a primary playmaker and ball-handler too.

It was asking a lot of the young forward. And yet, every challenge he seemed to take on and adapt to quickly.

It is no surprise then that the results have followed. Wagner has been a reliable player in every sense. It is a credit to his hard work even with plenty more to do.

"“It’s really cool,” Wagner said after Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls. “I hope it’s cool for all the coaches I work with every day. At the end of the day, I want to win games. It’s cool to be recognized for all the work. But there is a lot more work ahead.”"

Getting to this point and being one of the favorites for an All-Rookie team if not Rookie of the Year has been a surprising and sudden development. But something he has earned.

Scouts advertised that Wagner had a high basketball IQ and would seamlessly fit in wherever a team would need him. Still, it was hard to see him scoring 20 points so effortlessly and getting into scoring battles.

Elite company

Franz Wagner’s numbers at this point and even winning the Rookie of the Month award, becoming just the eighth Magic player to earn that honor, put him in some pretty elite company.

His scoring average for the season — rookie class-leading 15.9 points per game — is the most any rookie has averaged since Anfernee Hardaway in 1994. He had the highest-scoring month for a Magic rookie since Hardaway as well.

His 38-point effort against the Milwaukee Bucks last week was the third-highest single-game point total for a Magic rookie, only Shaquille O’Neal has a higher mark.

With rookies, there are usually a lot of hiccups. All teams want to see is that the player improves as the season progresses and that they look like they belong. Wagner will probably be the first to admit he still has work to do in a lot of areas.

That only makes the impact he has made all the more impressive. Wagner is one of the most critical players on the team.

And he continues to do things with little historical precedent for the Magic. Wagner’s early-season run has put him among the best players the Magic have ever drafted.

Just limiting comparison to times Magic players have won Rookie of the Month (with all apologies to Cole Anthony’s brilliant April last year), Franz Wagner is putting in some impressive numbers and performances.

Rookie of the Month Legacies

This is not like the late-season awards won by R.J. Hampton last year or Elfrid Payton in 2015.

Last year, Hampton won Rookie of the Month for the abbreviated May schedule. He put up some incredible scoring numbers but did so inefficiently and with games largely already decided.

That should not take away from Hampton — it is better to be able to do this under any circumstance even if it is not perfect circumstances. Hampton averaged 16.0 points per game, 7.1 rebounds per game and 5.6 assists per game.

Payton won the award in January 2015 after averaging 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. It was an award more for his consistency and his budding playmaking as the Magic’s lead guard.

Neither player ended up going much of anywhere in the ensuing months or seasons, proving it is really about how you build out from winning those awards as much as anything else.

Victor Oladipo won the award in December and February during the 2014 season. Clearly winning the award multiple times suggests a different level of player. Oladipo would eventually make an All-Star Game.

He averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 38.3-percent in December 2013 as he began to establish himself as a starter for that young Magic team. In February 2014, he averaged 14.7 points per game and shot 41.1-percent from the floor as he continued to gain confidence.

Obviously, though, that 2013 draft class was an especially weak one. At least at that stage of their careers before Giannis Antetokounmpo really emerged.

Mike Miller was the last Magic player to win the Rookie of the Year Award. He won Rookie of the Month twice as he became the needed secondary scorer and shooter to help the Magic reach the playoffs with Tracy McGrady.

Miller averaged only 11.9 points per game that season and shot 40.7-percent from deep. When he won the award in February, he averaged 15.6 points per game and shot 44.3-percent from beyond the arc. He matched that in March to win it again with 16.6 points per game and 37.9-percent shooting from deep.

Miller won the Rookie of the Year Award because he found his comfort and his confidence to help the Magic make the playoffs.

Near the stratosphere

Anfernee Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal remain the standard for rookies in Orlando Magic history. O’Neal won four Rookie of the Month awards and was an All-Star. He kind of sits in his own category.

Hardaway’s rookie season was a bit more measured — 16.0 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game and 6.7 assists per game.

When he won his Rookie of the Month Awards in January, he averaged 20.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. When he won it again in April, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game.

None of this is to say that Wagner is as good as Hardaway was his rookie year. It is important to note that Wagner is doing something no Magic rookie has done since Hardaway. But it is easy to see that Wagner is not quite in that category.

Perhaps not yet.

Wagner had a really strong month. And he deserves those comparisons with some of the best players in Magic history. This is a strong rookie class and Wagner has outperformed a lot of them.

He is a step below some of the best in Magic hsitory. But he clearly also had a month that was a lot better than any the Magic have seen in some time.

Obviously, there is still a lot of work to do to improve. And to be among the best rookies in franchise history, it will take matching and beating this strong December.

That is the consistent thing among the Magic’s best rookies. They got better as the season went on. They matched what they did before.

Wagner has a high bar to clear to reach those heights for sure. His approach and the way he plays suggests he can get there. Wagner seems as effective without the ball as he does with it because of his cutting ability and his improving 3-point shot along with his quickly improving pick and roll game.

Wagner is knocking on the door to enter this exclusive club though. That much is clear. The Magic have to hope this is just the start.