The NBA season may still be a ways away, but basketball itself is still in season. The NBA’s biggest superstars such as Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, all represented their home country at this year’s FIBA EuroBasket Championship. 

Only, we may need to add another name to that list sometime soon. Orlando’s very own Franz Wagner has taken massive strides during his time representing Germany at this summer’s tournament. The young sophomore also has a realistic shot at being crowned the tournament MVP following the elimination of Doncic, Antetokounmpo, and Jokic’s respective teams. Now, how exactly did the 21 year old coming off of a rough ankle injury set the basketball world on fire?

“𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦."

Franz Wagner scores 19 points to go with 4 rebounds and CLUTCH buckets, sending Greece back home!” 
FIBA (Twitter: @FIBA)

Franz was at the helm of eliminating Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece from contention, with a viral stepback dagger three while being guarded by the Greek Freak.Wagner’s killer performance put not only NBA fans, but the entire global basketball community on notice of what’s to come next season. It truly felt like the first time in over a decade that the consensus basketball opinion was being heavily optimistic for the Orlando Magic’s future, and rightfully so. One thing that cannot be overstated is how tight knit this young core truly is – Magic guards Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs even showed up in Munich to support Franz and the German national team. Teammates Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. have also been active on social media displaying their support for Wagner’s elite performances.

Franz Wagner has averaged 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in the EuroBasket tournament as of September 15th. (Stats per eurobasket.com) 

It's safe to say this stellar stretch of games out of Wagner holds a certain significance for projecting what's to follow. EuroBasket is often a great opportunity for European up-and-comers, such as a young Dirk Nowitzki looking to evolve their game even more and put their name out there. Specifically for a style of play that’s very fundamentally sound and tends to cater to veterans, Wagner showing out as a top five NBA player in the tournament is that much more impressive. There’s plenty to break down about what makes Wagner’s run so special, but what truly stands out is the shooting and the defense. 

Wagner has shot unreal percentages from the floor, putting up 55/50/100 shooting splits so far in the tourney. A large knock on the former 8th-overall pick was his lack of consistency/confidence when it came to long distance shooting. Throughout college hoops, it was a noticeable trait of Wagner’s to pass up open looks or to defer to other scoring mediums when given space at the arc. Although it was quite telling throughout Franz’ rookie season that the shooting is there, the highlight of his improved shooting stats is how they came – Wagner showed some drastic improvements with his shot creation outside the paint, taking defenders off the dribble and utilizing his absurd length and frame to shoot uncontestable shots. On the opposite end of the floor, Wagner held his own defensively to a much better standard than expected – he was responsible for around 25% of the teams total blocks and 20% of the teams total steals. Wagner also tackled one of his few criticisms on the defensive end, which was failure to keep up with smaller forwards in terms of lateral quickness and lacking true rim deterrence. He showed elite flashes of being quick on his feet, locking down quicker opponents and swatting their jumpshots away as if they were nothing.

“A Franz Wagner breakout season is coming.”
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor (Twitter: @KevinOConnorNBA)

The casual fan and the diehard fan are seeing Wagner’s performances, including a 32-point game against Lithuania, as two completely different things. Orlando is a city that has been desperate for star power for a while, and the fans will never argue that point. It’s been quite a while since Orlando was a winning destination. While we may have been fooled once or twice throughout the post-Dwight process (not mentioning any names, to be clear), we know something special when we see it. There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel nearing for Magic fans. Wagner putting on a show like this against top-tier talent is only the icing on the cake if you ask the loyal blue. The community knows and has known for quite a while that we’ve got a special talent here in Orlando, and his improvements in three-point shooting and defense are simply clarifications of what we believed he would become – we just did not expect it to be this soon. What makes EuroBasket a victory lap not only for Magic fans, but Franz advocates alike, is just how overlooked his rookie season was.

For the casual fan, this was a real coming out party. It’s about time we start to see Franz on those 25-under top-25 lists put out there by the likes of Bleacher Report. Wagner earned All-Rookie 1st Team honors, but of course there were voters who still were not aware of the stardom brewing in Orlando. One voter had left Wagner completely off their ballot and wrote in Austin Reaves for 2nd team honors. Franz was also ranked as only an 80 overall in the latest edition of NBA 2K, being the lowest ranked amongst his fellow All-Rookie 1st Team peers. While we’ve seen him get a small share of appreciation between the 38-point game vs. Milwaukee and the Timberwolves dunk, there’s something about being the last European NBA star standing in EuroBasket that sort of forces people to pay attention and witness greatness unravel in front of them. 

At the end of the day, there simply needs to be more spotlight on Orlando’s Wunderkind. Whether he’ll get it now or later on when he’s a bonafide perennial All-Star, it is simply a matter of time. 

Buy those Franz stocks now, ladies and gentlemen, those prices aren’t dropping any time soon!