The Official Franz Wagner Thread

[zaymon]

emergancy switching to patch defensive mistake is one, playing position on purpose is different. Gobert can defend guard when he is forced

According to bb reference, he spent so far 70% PT at SF, 30% at pF.

He played guard in college. Teams are moving into positionless basketball with most platers being 6'6+. I am not sure i want Franz to run after guards but countering big lineups is nice option. (or even force other teams to take out their guards, Wagner will propably punish hard smaller players in time)

...and Dwayne Bacon used to be good college scorer and Justice Winslow was 6'4 PF to Jah Okafor's - Shaq level dominance of that level of competition. This isn't college and let's keep him at position he is big, strong and weights enough to play. So SF or PF.

Gordon Hayward is way better ballhandler, better passer, better shooter yet almost never was slotted as SG In nba mostly because there was no need for him to do so.
Bojan Bogdanovic, despite being knockdown shooter over years also slided away from SG to SF and PF.

NBA simply goes small, it's easier to play "one down " position opposite of "one up". And SG role in general in nba divides itself into two major role:

a)spot up shooter who runs around without ball
b) secundary playmaker

Wagner is neither nor any 6'10 player should be. Even if we use one of most skilled ballhandlers, passers and shooters ever, for that size, Durant, he hardly ever played any SG ( literally was SG during rookie year, and never since ).

There is hole bunch of Magic guards who can't even play guard position, we should keep things simple for sake of roster. Franz is doing fine, let's keep it that way without frankestain's monster experiments.

While i agree to some extent Kevin Durant was matched against a guard 35,9% of time this season
Gordon Hayward 51,4%
Bojan Bogdanovic 32,4 %

Its by nba stats matchups by position.
Franz is at 32,1% right now. I am not sure how they count it becouse he played against wings like Keldon Johnson, Rj Barrett but also guards like KCP and Young

[J the Drafter]

The pertinent questions are “what advantages—if any—does the team gain from playing Wagner at the two?”, “how well can Wagner defend shooting guards?”, and “is this best for the team, given our personnel?”

[basketballRob]

The pertinent questions are “what advantages—if any—does the team gain from playing Wagner at the two?”, “how well can Wagner defend shooting guards?”, and “is this best for the team, given our personnel?”

All of our guards except Fultz have below a 6'7" wingspan. Compared to Detroit with a young backcourt of Hayes (6'9") and Cade (7').

Wagner also rebounds like a SG.

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[IllMagic04]

Im really looking foward to him on the floor with JI

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[PrimeThyme]

Imagine trying to score on a Suggs/Wagner/Chuma/Isaac/WCJ starting lineup. Scoring ourselves would be the hard part, but the defensive side of things would be fun.

[MagicFan101]

Can someone with better photoshop skills than me create a "Franzie" gif / meme?

The kid is so smoooooth, it just feels right!

[MagicFan101]

Imagine trying to score on a Suggs/Wagner/Chuma/Isaac/WCJ starting lineup. Scoring ourselves would be the hard part, but the defensive side of things would be fun.

That game would end up with an SEC football score.

[basketballRob]

Is Franz better?


https://stathead.com/tiny/SXFD5

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[jezzerinho]

Is Franz better?


https://stathead.com/tiny/SXFD5

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Laughably close across the statistical board.

I think it's a horses for courses thing. Franz is really good at practically everything (bar rebounding maybe). Barnes is absolutely great at some stuff and awful at some stuff.

Both look like starter material, but how valuable they are depends on team situation and fit.

[Knightro]

Laughably close across the statistical board.

I think it's a horses for courses thing. Franz is really good at practically everything (bar rebounding maybe). Barnes is absolutely great at some stuff and awful at some stuff.

Both look like starter material, but how valuable they are depends on team situation and fit.

I think they're both going to end up being very good players.

Barnes has the clear edge in rebounding. Franz has the clear edge in perimeter shooting.

But they're relatively similar. Big versatile guys who can score, can more than hold up defensively and can create shots and opportunities for teammates.

Barnes has only made 2 threes in 530 minutes played, which is a little jarring, but his 79% FT and 57% from 16-23 feet indicate enough natural touch on jump shots that he will hopefully be able to expand his range over time.

It will be fun to watch them both grow and develop. I'm just glad the Magic weren't in a position to pass on Barnes because I'd have probably cried if that happened

[zaymon]

Is Franz better?


https://stathead.com/tiny/SXFD5

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Barnes body is already built while Wagner has a lot room to grow still. I prefered Wagner before the draft and i still do. Franz seems more dynamic with the ball, better shooter, even starts to be more creative passer ?
Wagner is in 69,2 percentile as a p&r.
Barnes is 22,3 percentile.
To me they are not that close. Barnes is being hyped while Wagner is actually better basketball player.
I would put Wagner in tier 1 with Mobley, and Barnes in tier 2 with Cunningham.

[tooler]

Drafting both Barnes and Wagner would've limited opportunities for both of them. All three players (Suggs included) ended up better off this way.

[RickB-Orlando]

This team has needed a solid three that can score, pass and defend for ten years. Now that we have one, we should convert him to a shooting guard?

[pepe1991]

This team has needed a solid three that can score, pass and defend for ten years. Now that we have one, we should convert him to a shooting guard?

He is SF and should play SF... I will never understand why so many basketball fans have that awkward desire to shuffle players out of their comfort zone to try things. I already saw somebody proclaimed that Franz should be our point guard. By the 2023 people will be calling for Cole Anthony to play center...

I think people watch guy like Giannis with ball and just assume it's so objective and normal to expect every player standing at 6'10 to do so. Spoiler alert, it's not.

[tooler]

It's so funny that we thought Franz would be a glue guy that would take a while to get comfortable in the NBA. Now with all the injuries (and his surprising play) we're putting the ball in his hands every possession to carry the offense.

Hilarious. Welcome to Orlando.

[Skybox]

Sadly, we're toast...the bright side is this could be the season Franz gets every opportunity to show he's got star potential. He's already shown maturity and no fear of the bright lights and other more established players. There is no reason for him to defer to anyone on this roster, offensively. He's very unselfish, which is good, so I would trust him to make decisions all night with the ball. If he's got a selfish ROY inside, might as well go for it.

[tiderulz]

Sadly, we're toast...the bright side is this could be the season Franz gets every opportunity to show he's got star potential. He's already shown maturity and no fear of the bright lights and other more established players. There is no reason for him to defer to anyone on this roster, offensively. He's very unselfish, which is good, so I would trust him to make decisions all night with the ball. If he's got a selfish ROY inside, might as well go for it.

now we're toast? we werent going to be a good team from day 1 this season.

[OrlChamps2030]

So happy I was wrong about Wagner. He looks like he’s going to be really good for a long time

[KillMonger]

Sadly, we're toast...the bright side is this could be the season Franz gets every opportunity to show he's got star potential. He's already shown maturity and no fear of the bright lights and other more established players. There is no reason for him to defer to anyone on this roster, offensively. He's very unselfish, which is good, so I would trust him to make decisions all night with the ball. If he's got a selfish ROY inside, might as well go for it.

now we're toast? we werent going to be a good team from day 1 this season.

yeah lol....i was like, "is this guy serious"? this was a development year from day 1 not a competitive year...."now" we're toast

[Optimus_Steel]

Sadly, we're toast...the bright side is this could be the season Franz gets every opportunity to show he's got star potential. He's already shown maturity and no fear of the bright lights and other more established players. There is no reason for him to defer to anyone on this roster, offensively. He's very unselfish, which is good, so I would trust him to make decisions all night with the ball. If he's got a selfish ROY inside, might as well go for it.

now we're toast? we werent going to be a good team from day 1 this season.

yeah lol....i was like, "is this guy serious"? this was a development year from day 1 not a competitive year...."now" we're toast

I think its more of this team became less watchable with Suggs out, because there was always that hope he will have a big game as a rookie but him being out makes our already unwatchable team ever more so.