Franz Wagner was playing at an All-NBA level when he tore his right oblique in early December. It was the first major injury of his career, but, compared to seeing his brother (and Orlando Magic teammate), Moe, tear his left ACL later that month, it wasn’t a big deal, he told reporters Sunday.
“Honestly, mentally I was fine,” Wagner said, via Orlando Magic Daily’s Philip Rossman-Reich. “The first couple of days are always tough. But I felt like I had a good kind of mindset. Then the thing with my brother happened. I would say that had more of an impact. It’s always tough seeing anyone go down like that. Seeing it very close how it impacts one’s life. I would say that is tougher.”
Monday marks exactly a month since the 23-year-old forward got hurt during a 102-94 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. Before that game, the Magic had won 13 of 14 games, good for third in the Eastern Conference, and much of that was because of Wagner.
With a 105-92 loss against the lowly Utah Jazz on Sunday, they’ve now gone 5-8 in their last 13 games. Paolo Banchero, who tore his right oblique five weeks before Wagner did, has recovered from the injury but has been listed as out with “return to competition reconditioning” for their last five games. Wagner and Banchero are the team’s two cornerstones; without either of them on the court, Orlando has scored a dismal 103.7 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage-time minutes, per Cleaning The Glass.
Wagner was initially ruled out for at least four weeks. He will be reevaluated when the team returns home after its game against the New York Knicks on Monday, according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede.
“I think I’ve progressed really well,” Wagner said, via Orlando Magic on SI’s Mason Williams. “Yeah, now [I’m] just continuing to rehab it and make sure that we don’t make any jumps too soon because you don’t want to re-injure it, obviously, so it’s a weird spot. But I feel pretty good.”
Wagner told reporters that he is “staying patient,” and that he “felt totally normal” after the first couple of days of his recovery.
“Normally when you have an injury and you’re out — foot or knee or something — you have trouble walking or stuff like that,” Wagner said. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just, mentally, a little weird that nothing really hurts, but obviously, you know you can’t really go yet.”
The Magic’s injury issues extend beyond Banchero and the Wagner brothers. Jalen Suggs, who took a terrible fall in Toronto on Jan. 3, is dealing with a lower back strain. Anthony Black has missed their last four games because of a lower back contusion. Gary Harris has missed their last four games because of a strained left hamstring.
Given all of this, Orlando should feel pretty good about having a 21-16 record and being fourth in the East. Banchero is expected to be back relatively soon, and, if the timelines match, Wagner will be cleared to ramp up in about a month. If they can stay reasonably healthy after that, the Magic could make a late-season push and be a formidable playoff opponent. Unfortunately, though, Moe, whose injury was season-ending, won’t be a part of it.
