Franz Wagner was playing at the All-NBA level when he tore his right oblique in early December. It was the first major injury of his career, but, compared to his brother (and Orlando Magic teammate), Moe, tear his left ACL later this monthIt was no big deal, he told reporters on Sunday.
“Honestly, mentally, I was fine,” Wagner said. via Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily. “The first few days are always difficult. But I felt like I had a good mindset. Then the thing with my brother happened. I would say that had more of an impact. It’s always difficult to see someone fall like that. Seeing up close the impact it has on a person’s life, I would say it’s more difficult.
Monday marks exactly one month since the 23-year-old forward was injured during a 102-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to this game, the Magic had won 13 of 14 games, good for third place in the Eastern Conference, and a lot of that was due to Wagner.
With a 105-92 loss to the lowly Utah Jazz on Sunday, they are now 5-8 in their last 13 games. Paolo Banchero, who tore his right oblique five weeks before Wagner, recovered from his injury but was withdrawn with “return to competition reconditioning” for his last five matches. Wagner and Banchero are the two cornerstones of the team; without any of them on the court, Orlando scored a dismal 103.7 points per 100 possessions in garbage-free minutes, according to Cleaning The Glass.
Wagner was initially ruled out for at least four weeks. He will be re-evaluated when the team returns home from its game against the New York Knicks on Monday. according to Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
“I think I’ve progressed really well,” Wagner said. via Orlando Magic on SI’s Mason Williams. “Yeah, now (I’m) just continuing to rehabilitate him and make sure we don’t do any jumps too early because you don’t want to re-injure him, obviously, so it’s a weird place. But I I think it’s very good.”
Wagner told reporters he was “remaining patient” and “feeling totally normal” after the first few days of his recovery.
“Normally when you have an injury and you’re out — foot, knee or something like that — you have trouble walking or things like that,” Wagner said. “It’s none of that. It’s just mentally a little weird that nothing really hurts, but obviously you know you can’t really go.”
The Magic’s injury problems extend beyond Banchero and the Wagner brothers. Jalen Suggs, who suffered a terrible fall in Toronto on January 3suffers from lower back tension. Anthony Black has missed his last four games with a lower back contusion. Gary Harris has missed his last four games with a left hamstring strain.
Considering all of that, Orlando should feel pretty good about being 21-16 and fourth in the East. Banchero should be back relatively soon and, if the timelines match, Wagner will be cleared to step up in about a month. If they can stay reasonably healthy after that, the Magic could make a late-season push and become a formidable playoff opponent. Unfortunately, Moe, whose season-ending injury, will not be among them.
