Franz Wagner is crucial to every lineup the Orlando Magic have

It is no secret Franz Wagner has become integral to everything that is good about the growing Orlando Magic. While rookie Paolo Banchero gets more of the headlines, Franz Wagner is having a fantastic second season in the league.

Already we have looked in depth at the positive impact his interior play has had for the organization, even if they will need to diversify their style of play to win more games.

But with nearly half of the season in the books for the Magic, it now goes deeper than that with Wagner. A player averaging 19.9 points, 3.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per night, on an effective field goal percentage of 53.1 percent, Wagner has made an impact on almost every facet of the game as both a key scorer with the starters and the lead scorer for the team’s bench unit.

If you look at virtually any kind of lineup the Orlando Magic put on the court, Franz Wagner is part of all of the best ones for this organization, and that is crucial.

We should not be surprised by this fact. After all, Wagner has the second-highest usage on the team (25 percent), and a Player Efficiency Rating of 16.7. When he is on the court, the Magic have a better defensive rating (114.3 as a team, 111.1 with Wagner).

Offensively the numbers fall slightly (110.2 as a team, 109.3 with Wagner), but to watch him play is to know that his cutting, movement, comfort on the ball and ability to create for himself are all really important to how this team attacks opponents.

Really what highlights the positive impact Wagner is having more than anything else, is this excellent stat put together by Twitter user @beyondtheRK, an avid follower of Magic basketball.

Again you look at the players Wagner is playing alongside, coupled with what he can do for the team, and it makes sense. Wagner is a forward who can have an impact on both ends of the court.

In other words, if you pair him with a competent guard and a big man who can make a difference in the paint (such as the excellent three-man group featuring Franz Wagner, Cole Anthony and Mo Bamba), good things are going to happen.

Interestingly, none of the top lineups in the graph above feature Banchero alongside Wagner. There are two reasons for this, and neither should give Magic fans any reason to be concerned about how they will continue to grow together.

The first is simple. These are three-man lineups. If you expand that to five, then Wagner and Banchero have been part of lineups that lead to good things happening on the court.

Good, but not yet great. It is obvious when you watch them play together that they complement each other really well.

The second is that Banchero and Wagner both see most of the ball when the Magic are attacking, and defensively although both are average at worst in their positions (although you can argue both are certainly above that), the numbers are not quite swaying in their direction favorably yet.

This makes sense, given that the Magic have lost three straight games and are a good young team, but still way below .500 and struggling through the ups and downs of a regular season. Fun as they clearly are to root for.

But with Wagner getting nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December, it is clear he is doing a lot right for the franchise. To the point that the rest of the league has noticed.

Offensively he is going to get better and better, and the re-introduction of a point guard like Markelle Fultz ensures that on both ends Franz Wagner will be a winning player for the Magic as they continue to get better.

So much so that he has to be an outside shout to get an All-Star nod as early as this season.

Looking at this another way, and Wagner is currently part of three of the top four two-man lineups the Magic have produced in minutes played together this season.

They are Paolo Banchero/Franz Wagner (741 minutes), Bol Bol/Franz Wagner (685 minutes) and Terrence Ross/Franz Wagner (492 minutes).

To be trusted to play that many minutes with a fellow forward and scorer in Banchero, a versatile big in Bol and a gunner in Ross again speaks to Wagner’s importance.

No matter who you pair him with, good things happen. In an unexpected twist, the third-highest net rating tandem on the roster is Franz Wagner and the somewhat forgotten Kevon Harris, at 18.2.

This has been in a notably high 139 minutes played together this season, far more than the top two pairings (Mo Bamba/Moe Wagner’s 32.2 in 14 minutes together, and Markelle Fultz/R.J. Hampton’s 18.8 in seven minutes together).

Finally, Wagner possesses two traits that are rare in a player, and that the best ones have in spades. As he plays with better teammates, the level of Wagner’s own play rises alongside it.

But even when paired with guys like Harris, Wagner’s style of play means he is able to get the best out of them as well. The saying “a rising tide lifts all boats” certainly applies to the rotation players on this roster when they play with Wagner.

No matter what way this season pans out for the Magic, it is clear Franz Wagner will be critical to all of the best lineups they put on the court this season and beyond. To be having an impact on both ends, and playing with all manner of teammates, is huge for the franchise.