There is a certain bit of artistry and panache to the idea of a superstar.
They are meant to be the ones who have the classic mano e mano battles with the other team's best defender. They do heroic feats by overcoming the best defense loaded up to stop them. It is meant to be superhuman.
These ideas were planted by the formative years of watching Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant to jab step a defender into oblivion before draining a jumper over their heads. It is poetic, heroic and definitionally difficult to do. Only the best players can do this.
Franz Wagner is on the verge of this star class. His Orlando Magic teammate Paolo Banchero is often criticized for doing too much of this star-driven hero ball. He takes this ideal to the wrong place. But that he can do it is why he is considered the team's star.
Wagner has his set of heroic shots. But that is not always what he prefers. He prefers to isolate a mismatch and drive to the basket or get out in transition and weave his way through defenses. Like all great players, the ball finds him because he finds himself in the right spot to receive it.
Wagner scores because he is ready to score, and his points go in bunches as defenses worry about how to handle him.
His shot chart through two EuroBasket games has a lot of circles and dots right at the rim. That is where Wagner wants to live. He is the analytics dream because he shoots almost exclusively layups and threes (the 3-point shot is still a work in progress).
Wagner still can hit his share of step-backs. He opened the second half by isolating a big man in a pick-and-roll and then stepping back on him for a jumper. Wagner has it in his bag.
But that is not how Wagner defines his stardom. His stardom comes in giant bursts and runs. He finds a rhythm, the ball finds its way to him and Wagner just scores and attacks.
Germany had no problem defeating Sweden in its second EuroBasket game, winning 105-83. Wagner scored 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He did make one of his two 3-pointers, hitting a transition three when the ball swung to him and he could finally take his time, line up his shot and make it.
Wagner scored 12 of those points in the second quarter as Germany expanded its lead beyond Sweden's reach. His points came in transition, where he could get some air behind him and attack downhill to the basket. They came off drives and cuts where Wagner could find an advantage and beat a defense that was off balance.
Wagner has added some post-work to his game this summer. He is getting better at maintaining position. But Wagner's strength is finding a way to get his defenders off balance and then using his size to get to a spot to hit a floater over the defense or power his way to the rim.
Wagner has been parading to the line too this summer, shooting 8 for 10 from the foul line in Friday's game. Wagner continues to add to his game.
But how he gets there, that is unlike many of the stars around the league. Wagner is a star in his own right. And he is not a star in the way everyone typically sees.
Franz lives in the paint, not in the mid-range
Franz Wagner's shot profile is the analytics dream. He seemingly only takes threes and shots in the paint.
Last year, even as Wagner took on a larger scoring role to average a career-high 24.2 points per game, he still took shots all around the paint.
More than half of his shots -- 56.2 percent -- came within 10 feet of the basket. Nearly one-third of his shots (32.7 percent) shots came within five feet. He shot 64.7 percent within five feet of the basket. A little more than one-fifth of his shots (21.9 percent) came from three.
Paolo Banchero, for comparison, took 42.3 percent of his shots within 10 feet of the basket. Wagner is far more determined to get to the basket.
It says something that he did all of that even while adding more of a mid-range shot -- 107 attempts from the mid-range, according to NBA.com. It says something that Wagner did all this despite his struggles from three.
But Wagner is not an isolation freak either. He averaged only 3.0 isolation possessions per game last year, ranking 14th in the league in isolation possessions. His 0.70 points per possession on isolations was the worst among the 27 players to average at least 3.0 isolation possessions. Banchero averaged 0.97 points per possession.
This is why Banchero feels more like a star than Wagner.
But Wagner is proficient at drives. He led the team with 13.3 drives per game, shooting 48.8 percent on his drives and 9.5 points per game, according to data from Second Spectrum.
Wagner ranked 18th in the league in drives per game and 11th in points per game off drives. Wagner is one of the best drivers in the game. It is no wonder this is where he gets all of his points.
Wagner wil continue to improve as a driver, scorer, attacker and leader. That is where the Magic want to see him grow and expand.
He has continued to highlight and grow these aspects of his game. It is the engine that drives him and his stardom.
Wagner is not the typical star. He does not play like a typical star. He is not looking to isolate and take over. He will find ways to score with the ball and without it. He moves quickly and attacks. He finds way to score and his points add up.
Wagner is defining a different kind of stardom. And continues to define it.