3 Orlando Magic takeaways from the 2024 Paris Olympics
3. Franz Wagner is a much better player
There was at least some hand-wringing about Franz Wagner after he scored only 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting in the semifinal loss to France. Even if Orlando Magic fans did not want to bring up the comparison, the echoes of his 1-for-15 showing in Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It is something Wagner will have hard time escaping.
Just like last year's season, it would be a mistake to judge Wagner just based off his final game and any struggle he might have had when all the pressure and attention was on him.
Wagner had a stellar tournament. The same team that double- and triple-teamed him in the semifinals gave up 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting including two gravity-shaking dunks—one over Victor Wembanyama and then another over pretty much the entire French team—in group play.
They treated Wagner like the star he was throughout this tournament. And that should be something everyone takes away from this tournament: Wagner can be a star.
At the very least, he is a better player now than he was in May.
He is a stronger player, absorbing contact on both ends of the floor better and finishing through contact. He is more explosive as those two dunks clearly exemplified. Wagner is more patient, manipulating defenses as he gets downhill.
And Wagner's defense was stellar throughout the tournament. He will find it hard to be the best defensive player on a defensively stacked team, but Wagner is not going to go anywhere.
Perhaps it is a criticism that Wagner only got better at the things he was already better at—he shot 20 percent from three for the tournament to continue concerns about his outside shooting. But he went from very good to elite at these things.
Wagner even averaged 5.8 rebounds per game in the Olympics. He averaged 5.3 last year in a 48-minute NBA game.
It is easy to shoo this away. But Wagner averaged 19.7 points per game last year. The better version of Wagner should continue to expand his scoring and be a better contributor.
And like he did with the Magic, Germany was simply better when Wagner was on the floor. The Bronze Medal Game was the only game he had a negative plus-minus (-9).
Wagner is a better player. And that will make the Magic a better team.