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5 Orlando Magic players who have shown the most improvement in 2022

By Omar Cabrera

Mar 28, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) drives beside Cleveland Cavaliers center Moses Brown (6) in the third quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) drives beside Cleveland Cavaliers center Moses Brown (6) in the third quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls
Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic are winning for the first time all season but they are sticking to their day-by-day approach to improve. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2022 season was all about development from the start for the Orlando Magic.

The Magic’s goal this season was to try to develop players individually and to see growth as a team. This had to be the goal considering the team’s youth — the second-youngest roster in the league and one of the youngest starting lineups in team history — and their expected record.

Orlando will have the best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery and the team is certainly hoping for some Lottery luck to add a high-level player to a roster still in need of a star.

The Magic got an incomplete picture of their team though for many reasons.

The Orlando Magic have had a season of growth and development. As the season comes to a close, here are the five players who showed the most improvement throughout the season.

Orlando had a hard time getting the team as a whole throughout the year due to injury, but the Magic have seen the growth in players individually. The team has largely stuck together and stayed committed to the vision Jamahl Mosley has put for this team. They have improved gradually on defense and played their best basketball as they got healthy toward the end of the season.

This is a development outfit right now. The goal was to see individual players improve and get better as the season went on.

So there have been several players who have shown growth that was expected, and some that have been surprising.

Honorable Mentions

Gary Harris & Franz Wagner

Gary Harris has been the perfect veteran for the Orlando Magic on and off the court all season long.

Harris spent the start of the season getting healthy after being a late scratch from the lineup on opening night against the San Antonio Spurs. But once Harris began to get healthy, he returned to being the strong defender he was in Denver.

Harris also started to produce offensively, shooting 43.4-percent from the field and 38.4-percent from three. Harris has not reached those shooting clips since the 2018 season.

He had a good season but was more of a bounce-back season rather than seeing improvement throughout the season.

For Franz Wagner, this season was a surprise from the start.

Wagner took the NBA world by storm from day one, averaging 15.3 points per game on 46.8-percent from the field and 35.7-percent from beyond the arc.

These numbers range from the high of 19.5 in December and the low of 13.1 in November.

Wagner has been consistent for the majority of the season on all fronts, from availability to what he has produced on the floor.

He has made the right plays and played within the team’s offense and defense. If anything, fans were begging for more of Wagner and to see his role expand.

That may come next year.

For now, Wagner has displayed a complete skill set this season and will take the offseason to smooth out the edges. But throughout this season, Wagner has had a steady season rather than have big jumps throughout the year.