Franz Wagner redefines his stardom and role without Paolo Banchero

The Orlando Magic had lost five straight games as they returned home from a frustrating road trip. It is the kind of moment that a team expects its leaders to step up and define the game to ensure a victory. The kind of game and moment that the story of a star is written.

Franz Wagner had that moment in the game Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers. He scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half and attacked with a steely resolve to keep the Magic in the game. He was not going to settle for jumpers and he was going to make sure the Pacers had to account for him.

That game ended in a defeat. But it appeared to show the way for the team and more specifically for Wagner and the way he has to play. It was the first time it semed since Banchero's injury that Wagner asserted himself as a star.

If Orlando is going to hold the boat steady for the next month without Paolo Banchero, they need an aggressive and attacking Franz Wagner. Wagner does not have to replace or take the place of Banchero. But the Magic are inevitably going to need more. He has to assert himself.

Wagner is starting to understand this. And starting to apply this as he did during the Orlando Magic's 115-88 streak-busting win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.

Franz Wagner stepped up to lead the Magic from the tip

From the jump, Franz Wagner was aggressive, looking to attack the paint and control the game's tempo. He made it clear through his play that he was going to put his stamp on the game from the tip. He was going to make sure the Orlando Magic did not lose.

This game and this team right now need him to score. Wagner is learning to step up to the plate and be the star.

"I think I had a good mentality coming into both games," Wagner said after Friday's win. "Whether it ends up being me scoring or impacting the game in other ways, I think that's my mentality coming into games to set the tone whether it's me scoring points or the group coming in with the mindset. That's the goal."

Wagner led the charge of a dominant 37-point first quarter, scoring 17 points to make sure the Magic did not play from behind. A suffocating defense that got the team out in transition took care of the other part of that equation as the Magic took as much as a 24-point lead in the first half.

Wagner's aggression, as it did in a 28-point effort Wednesday against the Pacers where he scored 21 points in the first half, set the tone for the team. If the Magic were going to struggle to shoot again, Wagner was going to take the lead trying to get to the basket and score in the paint.

Orlando once again got 70-plus points in the paint, scoring 74 this time to counteract a 3-point shot that refuses to go in.

Wagner led the way again, finishing with 27 points on 9-for-18 shooting, making seven of eight free throws. He added five rebounds and six assists. Wagner was everywhere for the magic and gave this desperate team exactly what they needed.

"It's no secret that's our guy right now," Anthony Black said after Friday's game. "Getting him going is important for us not just for tonight but going forward. Any time he can keep being aggressive, keep getting the ball and keep getting to the rim, just be you out there and let us play off of you really. Definitely good that he is going and we need him to keep it going."

The balance of stardom

Everything for a team always starts with its best player and leader. That is the difficult balance Paolo Banchero was learning as he grew into stardom and the attention that comes with it.

There is a vacuum in his absence that not one person can fill. But undoubtedly every eye has turned to Franz Wagner to take on the role of lifting up his teammates and being the main engine for scoring.

It is not an easy thing to learn.

That should not all fall on Wagner. But Wagner is the team's best remaining player. And he has not always been consistently aggressive looking for his shot. He can put up star-like points, but he is rarely the player who garners all the attention.

For the Magic to function, they know they need Wagner playing at his best. Playing without Banchero must unlock this aspect of his game.

"I love when Franz is aggressive," Jalen Suggs said after Friday's game. "He's such a problem on offense. When he's coming out aggressive, it's great for us. It opens up a lot of things for everybody else. We have to continue to move, cut, get to second and third actions, not get stagnant on that end, not ball watch too much and we'll be fine."

He has slowly expanded his game, averaging 21.4 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game in teh five games since Banchero's injury. There have been plenty of ups and downs and Wagner has not been immune to the team's overall shooting troubles.

But even in those games, he tended to fade into the background and disappear.

That was not the case in the last two games. Wagner came out aggressive trying to get downhill and finish at the rim. He was putting pressure on defenses and working his way to the basket. In both instances, defenses were powerless to stop him.

That is something Wagner has shown he can do throughout his career. He can take space and work his way toward the basket. But he has never been asked to be a greater playmaker or the guy the team turns to when they need a bucket.

"It's definitely a little mindset shift," Wagner said after Friday's win. "I think everybody has to have that with P and Wendell out with more opportunity for guys. It's no different for me. Just trying to play my game and be really aggressive. And keep my composure as well. Understanding my role on the team. And then just try to be aggressive and make plays."

That is indeed a different mindset and a different focus.

A star in progress

With Paolo Banchero out, Franz Wagner realizes he has to demand the ball more. He has to lead the way for this team and to get a basket when they need it.

That part is still a work in progress. During the Orlando Magic's lulls in the second and third quarters, the Magic tried to force the ball to Wagner on post-ups or isolated him on one side as the defense loaded up against him. Wagner found it difficult to help the Magic get going.

In this way, Wagner is not Banchero. He is not going to be an isolation player. He is not going to get himself a bucket with defenses loaded up against him. Wagner has to play a different way.

Just as important as any other message coming from the coaching staff, they want players to be themselves. They are not trying to replace Banchero. They need to do what is comfortable to them.

When Wagner was successful, he looked no different. He was just doing it more.

"I think he's just such a competitor," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's win. "He's going to do whatever it takes, whatever is necessary to try to put this team on his back and figure out a way to get a win. And he continues to play the right way. We ask him to be aggressive, ask him to make the right plays and he's trying to do that. I think that's what we have to continue to ask from him every night."

It is clearly still a work in progress. He is still learning how to handle the responsibility. But he is getting more comfortable with it. And having this mindset now will serve him well when Banchero returns and the two can share this mega playmaking and scoring role.

There will inevitably still be work to do. But Wagner is embracing this part of his game and growing into the role the team needs from him.

This is indeed what stardom might look like for Wagner moving forward.