Orlando Magic have survived Franz Wagner’s midseason slump

As the NBA gears up for All-Star Weekend, every organization now has time to pause and take stock before the stretch run to the end of the regular season.

The Orlando Magic are no different. And after an ugly 5-20 start, they have shown clear improvement in going 19-15 since then, including a six-game win streak.

Central to this has been second-year player Franz Wagner. The eighth pick in last year’s draft is quickly becoming crucial to everything good that the franchise does.

Wagner has hit a wall in February, but with the team still pulling out some wins, he is going to come back from the All-Star break ready to lead a play-in charge.

Tuesday night’s loss to the Toronto Raptors felt like the moment when the play-in tournament became out of reach for the Magic. Now four games back from the Raptors in the loss column, but now fully healthy, they are running out of games to snag the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Wagner was poor in that game, going for only nine points. Tied for the least he has scored in the month of February so far, and the lowest since the seven points he offered up in a loss to the Chicago Bulls in January.

Before even examining the numbers, to look at Wagner on the court is to see a player who looks tired.

The cuts are not as sharp as they have been, and the seemingly effortless flow of his offensive game has become stodgy.

Wagner is averaging 18.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 36.6 percent shooting from deep this season. A terrific return for a player in their second season.

He regularly finishes at the top of notable offensive statistics league-wide and has helped to revolutionize the offensive gameplan of the Magic.

But there has to be some sort of give here, and the team is constantly asking Wagner to do a lot. Unsurprisingly, he trails only Paolo Banchero in usage rate at 23.8 percent.

Wagner always gives his best, but at this point, you could make the case he is doing more and means more to his team than any other second-year player in the entire league.

Consider this list of the players who went above Wagner in last year’s draft, and how they are doing right now;

• Cade Cunningham (out for the season).
• Jalen Green (takes plenty of shots on a Houston Rockets team lacking a leader).
• Evan Mobley (a superb player, who has plenty of help in Donovan Mitchell & Darius Garland while anchoring one of the top defenses in the league alongside Jarret Allen).
• Scottie Barnes (getting better, but not asked to do what Wagner does offensively).
• Jalen Suggs (even as Franz Wagner’s teammate fans expect far less of Suggs right now).
• Josh Giddey (underrated, but playing with no expectations for the surprising Oklahoma City Thunder).
• Jonathan Kuminga (safe to say he is far from a focal point for the Golden State Warriors).

Coming out of Michigan, nobody could have predicted that in his second year, Wagner would be one of the two best players on a young team that is pushing to make the play-in tournament.

That has shown in Wagner’s numbers in February, as he has averaged a poor 12.6 points on 32.4 percent shooting from deep. His rebounding and assist numbers have held up against his season averages.

But equally as important, the Magic have gone 4-4 in the month of February so far.

So even with Wagner way off his best, the team has still managed to beat the Denver Nuggets at home and the Minnesota Timberwolves in their backyard, among others.

Banchero has bounced back some from his own rookie slump, and the Magic can count themselves lucky that both players did not experience a downturn in productivity at quite the same time.

But having Wagner struggle and remain competitive is huge for this team as they continue to grow together. There was a time when if the Magic’s best player was not playing well, neither was the team.

Now though, Markelle Fultz or Wendell Carter or even Bol Bol in spot minutes can make a difference, while Wagner tries to regain some form.

To be sure though, the Magic need Wagner at his best if they are going to close the gap in the play-in chase and finish the season strong. These last 23 games are big for Wagner to re-establish the consistency the team has come to rely on him.

He will come back from the experience of playing in the Rising Stars game alongside Banchero at All-Star Weekend revitalized.

Even if he does not, the Magic have a middling level of difficulty in games remaining, and we have established now that the team can pull out wins even if Wagner is only offering up 12 points a night.

One final note, the Magic have ranked a hugely impressive fourth in defensive rating (108.8) so far in February.

Wagner has been important to this, and the team’s defensive rating (110.8) when he is on the court has not been detrimental to that success.

It is the most underrated part of his game, the ability to compete with opponents one through four on any given night.

As long as that doesn’t drop off significantly, then the Magic will keep winning games and Wagner will continue having an impact. Once the scoring returns, and it will sooner rather than later, we will see the absolute best of Wagner again.