Fourth-quarter Franz Wagner is everything the Orlando Magic ever needed

In an Orlando Magic season that has already had plenty of ups and downs, it feels like the organization has again hit on a good point in their campaign.

Jonathan Isaac has returned to a basketball court and recently suited up for the Lakeland Magic, looking solid in the process. Markelle Fultz continues to go from strength to strength, proving that he is the point guard of the future for this team.

Paolo Banchero is hanging around in the All-Star conversation. And, whether he makes it or not, the fact it would not be crazy if he did play in the midseason exhibition shows how fantastic he has been as a rookie.

That is not even the best part though. The Magic have all this young talent and one clear-cut closer already

But perhaps best of all, has been the emergence of “fourth-quarter Franz”, with Franz Wagner morphing into the Orlando Mgaic’s closer before our eyes.

Make no mistake, to be doing this so comfortably in only his second season is amazing from Franz Wagner. Tuesday night’s performance against the Portland Trail Blazers was Wagner in the fourth at his finest.

He had 15 points in the final act of the game, helping elevate the Magic over the Trail Blazers in what was a wild and entertaining encounter.

Let that sink in for a minute. When was the last time the Magic truly had a player who could close out games for them? Dwight Howard was an interior monster. But as we dived into recently, he never had a 50-point game for the franchise.

Dominant though he was, he was a shaky free throw shooter and never developed close to an elite game outside of the paint.

Jameer Nelson? A beloved Magic player for sure, but despite some late-game heroics throughout his career, closer is not the first word you would use to describe him. Certainly not in the biggest games on the biggest stages as he often played.

Franchise legend Nikola Vucevic? He could do it all. But when the game was close, you did not feel totally comfortable giving him the ball and letting him cook. Even with two buzzer-beating jumpers to his name.

You probably remember the organization trying to turn Evan Fournier into this guy and even he had his successes. But that thought likely still gives you nightmares.

So really not since Hedo Turkoglu have the Magic seen a player with the comfort levels Franz Wagner is displaying. He is crafty, moves so well without the ball and he continues to confound opponents when he has the ball in hand with what he can do.

He is not quite an automatic scorer at all three levels yet, but he possesses a calmness and poise in all of these situations which means you still feel comfortable with him stepping into any kind of shot because he is making the right decisions.

At this point, it is fair to wonder where Wagner would go if the 2021 NBA Draft was done today, with Bill Simmons recently suggesting he would surely have to be one of the top two picks. A sore one to take if you are a Chicago Bulls fan.

Right now Wagner is averaging a fantastic 20.2 points per night, and the 35.3 percent he is shooting from deep will surely improve some as time goes on. More than these basic numbers, however, Wagner’s emergence as a fourth-quarter force has had two big knock-on effects.

The first is the Magic are quickly becoming a young team who are figuring out the roles of everybody on the roster. If Markelle Fultz is the table-setter, Wendell Carter is the interior presence, Jalen Suggs is the defensive-minded guard and Bol Bol is the wild card, Franz Wagner is the closer.

To have everybody buy into their roles and be comfortable in them at this point in the group’s development is excellent, and cannot be talked about enough. You look at a franchise like the Houston Rockets, and how their young talent is failing to come together and be cohesive.

Yet in Orlando, the young players all know what they are supposed to do, and they are led by a veteran in Terrence Ross who is holding them accountable. A fantastic mix.

Just as important is how Wagner plays next to Banchero. He appears to have no problem playing second fiddle to the rookie, who it is fair to say rightly has the label of the man with the Magic. This is his team already.

But that does not mean Wagner cannot close out games. And Banchero seems absolutely fine with Wagner coming alive in the fourth quarter. Both have had their shots and their chances late in games. A multi-pronged attack is plenty effective.

A bit like Khris Middleton for the Milwaukee Bucks, Wagner can be the co-star who is still entrusted to make things happen in the biggest moments. If you want to talk about players fitting into roles, then having their second-best player have shades of Middleton is no bad thing.

So strap in and enjoy the ride, because no matter how this season ends for the organization, the emergence of Franz Wagner as a closer is huge for their future. To be doing so while being so young, and with so much upside still to tap into, is brilliant for the team.

Knowing that Banchero can step in sometimes and knock down some shots in close games makes this all the sweeter, as the pressure won’t always be on Wagner to deliver. Not that he’d care about that, as he has been unfazed by everything that has come his way so far.