The Official Franz Wagner Thread

[Audi]

This isn't anything more than a wonder:
Do you we would have gotten to this point if J.I. was healthy from the start of the year? Fultz & MCW too.
I'm feeling like sitting those guys for as long as they've sat has really paid off. They would have for sure taken minutes away from Franz.

Franz definitely wouldn’t be handling the ball as much, but i don’t think he’d be starving for minutes either. I know the vast majority of the NBA world are surprised at his play, but I don’t know the degree of surprise this has taken Weham though or if they saw it in him from the take.

[basketballRob]

Franz still doesn't get super high usage and goes long stretches without touching the ball. That makes me believe whoever plays with, he can still have the same production.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[yoyojw17]

This isn't anything more than a wonder:
Do you we would have gotten to this point if J.I. was healthy from the start of the year? Fultz & MCW too.
I'm feeling like sitting those guys for as long as they've sat has really paid off. They would have for sure taken minutes away from Franz.

Franz definitely wouldn’t be handling the ball as much, but i don’t think he’d be starving for minutes either. I know the vast majority of the NBA world are surprised at his play, but I don’t know the degree of surprise this has taken Weham though or if they saw it in him from the take.

Well... he was their man at 8. they said it multiple times. so... maybe they aren't that shocked. But they got the opportunity to trust him with more early on....which has given a disciplined hardworker the room to blossom into his own!

I was happy with the pick.... but didn't fathom I would be THIS happy at this point in the season. Now is a good time to start reintroducing Fultz and Isaac back in. The possible defensive and offensive combination of Wagner, Fultz and JI will bring. Throw in a lil wendall.... and mayyyybe keep Harris in the starting lineup... that will be an interesting team to watch down the stretch.

[tiderulz]

This isn't anything more than a wonder:
Do you we would have gotten to this point if J.I. was healthy from the start of the year? Fultz & MCW too.
I'm feeling like sitting those guys for as long as they've sat has really paid off. They would have for sure taken minutes away from Franz.

Not this point exactly, but for the most part yes.

The coaching staff would still be pushing him to be aggressive. Even with a healthy roster, we lack small forwards and we wouldn't have anyone that could get a bucket on demand, so Franz would still have the ball in his hands a lot, especially late in the game.

He just wouldn't be hitting 38 points in a game with Cole, Fultz, MCW, and Suggs jacking up shots.

yeah, but he wouldnt have gotten the ball as much. and getting the ball, scoring, making plays boosts that confidence

[basketballRob]

Franz averaging exactly 20 PPG over the last 14 games.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[Driguez]

Franz is making me get league pass since I'm no longer in FL and tbh I haven't been following much. It seems we finally have a team to be excited about

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

Greg Anthony becoming a big fan of the Magic. You can tell he watches every possession from listening to him talk about the team.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[thelead]

Read on Twitter

Funny, I said the same exact thing yesterday to Howard Mass.

[Vampirate]

Franz has solidified himself into the top 3 rookies, especially after last night's performance.

Where he ranks in that 3 Raptor, Magic and Cavs fans will argue against each other the order.

Pretty much while there are a ton of rookie's with promise, a lot of them have some sort of glaring flaw atm that prevents them into entering the top 3 bracket.

[basketballRob]

Franz jumped to #1 on NBA's Kia Rookie ladder.


https://www.nba.com/news/kia-rookie-ladder-dec-29-2021


Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Skybox]

Read on Twitter

I especially like his mention of the Trade Deadline...make a move, WeHam!! Jump the line.

[zaymon]

Read on Twitter

I especially like his mention of the Trade Deadline...make a move, WeHam!! Jump the line.

If we make a move it will propably be to make us even worse this year not better Lets trade Ross, have honest discussion with Harris and long look at Bamba.

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

I especially like his mention of the Trade Deadline...make a move, WeHam!! Jump the line.

If we make a move it will propably be to make us even worse this year not better Lets trade Ross, have honest discussion with Harris and long look at Bamba.

Hammond is probably busy after watching Wagner last night.

Read on Twitter

?t=Um3hhoFi-hVoAMGqc-3gWQ&s=19


Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[JojoSlimbiid]

He was doing most of his damage with legit NBA players on the court so I don't want to hear about this being related to COVID. He just played really well last night.

[jezzerinho]

Read on Twitter

I especially like his mention of the Trade Deadline...make a move, WeHam!! Jump the line.

If we make a move it will propably be to make us even worse this year not better Lets trade Ross, have honest discussion with Harris and long look at Bamba.

I think that Wagner's amazing performance level so far obligates the FO to think about how far out into the future they want to delay the team's competitiveness. If they complete the tank this year, draft ANOTHER 18/19 year old with potential, then experiment with lineups before they decide on what trades to make, a lot of key contracts could be running out and Orl as a FA destination will look less assured.

Assuming Orl has key pieces in Franz and WCJ at an absolute minimum, the FO would be wise to begin the process of adding a quality player in this trade window. Then, even if the improved performance of the team in the spring drops its draft slot, Orl in a fairly lukewarm draft should be looking to leverage its remaining picks for another player.

With four quality players and some bench options, you can start to teach the team how to play competitive ball and hope that one of your chips elevates their game to star level.

Now we know we have a great one in Franz, it makes no sense not to accelerate to some degree the rebuild.

I don't say it out of impatience. I think the FO has to weigh the tank option against the damage that continued losing does and the aging of some key contracts.

[RichCollab]

Franz finally getting some respect. Well deserved!

[zaymon]

I especially like his mention of the Trade Deadline...make a move, WeHam!! Jump the line.

If we make a move it will propably be to make us even worse this year not better Lets trade Ross, have honest discussion with Harris and long look at Bamba.

I think that Wagner's amazing performance level so far obligates the FO to think about how far out into the future they want to delay the team's competitiveness. If they complete the tank this year, draft ANOTHER 18/19 year old with potential, then experiment with lineups before they decide on what trades to make, a lot of key contracts could be running out and Orl as a FA destination will look less assured.

Assuming Orl has key pieces in Franz and WCJ at an absolute minimum, the FO would be wise to begin the process of adding a quality player in this trade window. Then, even if the improved performance of the team in the spring drops its draft slot, Orl in a fairly lukewarm draft should be looking to leverage its remaining picks for another player.

With four quality players and some bench options, you can start to teach the team how to play competitive ball and hope that one of your chips elevates their game to star level.

Now we know we have a great one in Franz, it makes no sense not to accelerate to some degree the rebuild.

I don't say it out of impatience. I think the FO has to weigh the tank option against the damage that continued losing does and the aging of some key contracts.

Wagner is good already but i think accelerating right now would be a mistake. This season is lost. Lots of teams are trying to make the play in so sellers are few and far between, good players will be expensive to get. As you pointed out next season we will have another high drafdt pick and you dont win with rookies, even as good as Wagner.
Lets try to accumulate some more assets before we start to spend them. We have good not great warchest, we are playing the long game here, lets not be the Kings of the east. We can start to look at our options in the offseason depending on draft position.

[RookieStar]

I gotta think as well... with the emergence of Franz...

I mean this kind of rookie and his production/impact is usually a top 2 pick.

Im not saying he is but usually lbj/luka type of rookies that energizes and makes a franchise hopeful.

Soooo yeah, maybe our FO might acceleratw our rebuild with the surprise of Franz. They might decide to make a trade or sign a player next year that can complement our core instead of just developing them for the next season.

[Xatticus]

This isn't anything more than a wonder:
Do you we would have gotten to this point if J.I. was healthy from the start of the year? Fultz & MCW too.
I'm feeling like sitting those guys for as long as they've sat has really paid off. They would have for sure taken minutes away from Franz.

Of course not. This is the nature of the NBA. It's the nature of development. It's all about opportunity. This applies to pretty much everything.

DeMar DeRozan is an example. By force of will, he has always been the dominant offensive presence on every roster he has been a part of and he has continued to develop for this reason. He is a better version of himself than he has ever been before and he has continued to develop because he has been afforded the opportunities to do so. The same can be said of LaVine. Patrick Williams, on the other hand, doesn't have much of a chance at this point. Aside from the injury, he is so buried in the offensive scheme that he is destined to be a defensive role player.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057753

The short version of that article is that the NHL has an over-representation of players born in the first quarter of the year (Jan, Feb, Mar) because the age cut off at youth levels is Jan. 1. This essentially means that being born in the first quarter of the year means you are older than your peers and are more mature. This advantage in maturity means a relative advantage in size and a relative advantage in skill. These perceived differences lead to more future opportunities and thus more players born in those months ultimately reach the NHL.

A player's outcome is heavily influenced by the situations they find themselves in. If you look at Nikola Vucevic, for example, there are many outcomes where he ends up back in Europe after a brief stint in the NBA. He was fortunate enough to land on a roster bereft of talent and he forced his way into a large role. He continued to develop. He is now a serviceable NBA big. Unfortunately, our organization paid him as though he were something far more.

That's great for Nikola Vucevic. It wasn't so great for the Orlando Magic. For a franchise, you have to pick the right players to develop. If you devote your resources to developing marginal talents, you end up with a marginal roster that has no chance of competing for anything meaningful.

I think Wagner is a terrific candidate for development. He isn't really blessed with a lot of talent, though there is certainly some there. What's between his ears is what gives him the potential to be a very good player. He understands that the goal is to win the game and that puts him ahead of the vast majority of prospects. Cole Anthony? I'd flip him in a heartbeat.