As the Orlando Magic wrapped up their shootaround and their media sessions on Wednesday, Franz Wagner slinked onto the court. With coaches surrounding him, he started lightly shooting the ball and preparing for his workout.
He was almost certainly waiting for the media to leave so he could begin the on-court workout that coach Jamahl Mosley said he had begun doing in his latest recovery from a high ankle sprain.
It was the most certain sign that Wagner is making progress in his return from a left high ankle sprain that has kept him to just four games since Dec. 7, including two false starts.
Even amid a four-game -- now six-game -- win streak, the Magic still feel like they are missing a big piece of themselves. They still feel like they are waiting to be fully healthy.
Everyone is wondering how dangerous this Magic team can be if they do get fully healthy and Wagner back on the court.
Wednesday marked three weeks since the Magic announced he would be out indefinitely, giving him that timeline to be re-evaluated. The update on Tuesday was simply that he was continuing to progress, and his return would be dependent on how he responded to treatment.
The ESPN broadcast for Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers filled in the remaining details.
"Franz Wagner is still a ways away, according to Jamahl Mosley, the head coach of the Orlando Magic," ESPN's Jorge Sedano reported in the first quarter of the game. "He is getting some work in on the court, but still non-contact. Some light work on the court and then some drills off of it. Still no real timeline. They said to us basically he's a ways away was the words that they used."
The Magic did not put a timeline, even for re-evaluation, in their update on Tuesday. Mosley confirmed to the media at shootaround Wednesday morning that Wagner was starting to do on-court work but was not taking contact yet.
There is still a waiting game. And everyone will have to wait a bit longer.
Time running out
The question is how quickly Franz Wagner can ramp up to contact and get back on the court for live action. It is not clear how long that would take.
With the Orlando Magic in the midst of five games in eight days, it is safe to bet that he will not make that progress before Tuesday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But even that comes to another crushing reality: The season is starting to run out.
There will be only 14 games remaining after that home game against the Thunder. There will come a time when there is not enough time to get Wagner a proper regular-season ramp-up before the Playoffs.
"Sometimes when you put a timeline on a guy, it can either hinder what they are doing," Jamahl Mosley said after shootaround on Wednesday. "You try to keep it where we can get to how they respond to what is happening to them. Everybody’s body is different. When they pull up one day it might hurt more than the day before. If you put a timeline on it, it extends the timeline. Just being able to see how they respond to treatment each and every single day is the most important thing."
The Magic generally avoid putting timelines on returns so as not to pressure players to return before they are ready. But there is a ticking clock hanging over the team with the season winding down.
The long-term view
The Orlando Magic will go through their process with Franz Wagner. They are not going to rush anything. He will play when he is ready, especially considering the team had two false starts with him.
Wagner admitted he likely pushed too hard to return to play in Berlin against the Memphis Grizzlies. He began feeling soreness that he thought he could play through but could not after the team returned home.
The same thing happened when he played in the two games against the Milwaukee Bucks. Imaging during the All-Star break revealed there was still an issue. The Magic are now sitting and waiting for it to clear up and for him to get back on the court.
The Magic have found their groove and found success to climb the standings. They are sitting in fifth and are staing clear of the Play-In Tournament at long last. But there is still a lot of season left.
Ultimately, everyone knows that the Magic will not escape the first round or achieve their postseason goals without Wagner on the court.
But after playing only four games since Dec. 7, when he suffered his injury and two false starts, the Magic also want to make sure that this injury does not become a recurring problem, there is another false start or that it affects his offseason work.
The Magic are already weighing a lot as they help Wagner return. They do not want to risk any long-term issues knowing he still has a long career ahead of him.
"You know how I feel about it and how we feel as an organization, their careers are more important than this one moment," Mosley said after shootaround on Wednesday. "I think to make sure everything is right is the best thing to do. We are thinking longevity more than we’re thinking this moment. Yes, we would love to have him back as soon as possible. But we’re not going to do it at the risk of somebody’s career or what they are going through. I think that is more important."
The good news then is that Wagner is back on the court. He is feeling well enough to get that kind of work in.
But how much time he will need on the court to ramp up is still the big question. How much time will it take for him to be ready to play again. And will there be enough time for him to be ready for the Playoffs to help the team score a series win?
Those are longer term questions. It should be clear for now that the Magic are not rushing anything and that Wagner is still in the beginning stages.
Time in the regular season, though, is starting to run out.