By Fawzan Amer
ORLANDO -- The most important development of the first few weeks of the 2024-25 season is Franz Wagner's ascension, as Orlando's full-time main option in the absence of Paolo Banchero. It didn't take long for the 23-year-old to answer the first key question many outsiders had this season: Was Franz Wagner OVERPAID? He wasn't.
In Banchero's absence, Wagner has burst into stardom via a succession of stellar performances: 32 points with three steals in the opening NBA Emirates Cup game against the Hornets; 31 points and five 3s against the 76ers; 32 points against the Phoenix Suns on the road last night, capped by an audacious step-back triple that helped him surpass Terrence Ross for 15th all-time in points in franchise history.
"He's playing at an All-Star level," Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said following Wagner's second consecutive 30-point performance to increase their win streak to six straight games. "You ask guys to step up in these moments, not having a full healthy roster, and he's done that. On extra versions of it. How he works is being rewarded."
A strong flavor and style for days, Franz Wagner is one of the most unique scorers in recent memory. As a ball handler, he makes his moves in the space between the beats. Keeps his stuff silky and distorted, the patron saint of deceleration, speeds up and slows down the frame rate on his drives, then uses his length to surge toward daylight and finish with style. Will happily aim at a defender’s hip and make straight-line drives to the cup, or take more scenic routes. He has the entire range of Euro steps at his disposal and can deploy them in an instant.
For all the angst this offseason about Wagner's inability to connect on his long-range bombs, he's naturally averaging 36 percent from downtown, maintaining his strong efficiency numbers with a heavier workload, and doing so as the primary option playing nearly every minute humanly possible. It is a commendable accomplishment. But really, all Wagner needed to make the leap was the usage.
What's been most impressive isn't the made threes, his success having these scoring outbursts, his defense, or his usage -- all things he showcased, leading to the German forward being the highest-paid player in franchise history. It has been his ability to counterbalance different coverages his teammate All-Star forward Paolo Banchero would see on a nightly basis.
There are countless ways for Franz Wagner to display his dominance. He's a three-level scorer, a polished jumper paired with his ability to draw contact and send himself to the free-throw line whenever he wants. This season, after the loss of Paolo Banchero due to an oblique injury, Wagner has seen multiple "exotic coverages" and has repeatedly dealt with the same coverages over and over again; how Wagner reacts to all that attention remains the most exciting and revealing part of his game.
The Magic coaching staff has worked tirelessly to scheme Franz open with the understanding he'd face traps, blitzes, top-locks, and a variety of other coverages to hinder the offense he's capable of providing on a nightly basis. After some early struggles, there's one play they have come to lean on frequently to create space for their 23-year-old budding All-Star to operate in called "Stack."
The Magic run their "Stack" set with Franz Wagner as the ball-handler, and the play is most commonly run with two different variations. Orlando likes to "exit early" (fake back-screen and leak out, aka "Spain leak") as opposed to having their guard back-screen for the picker as they roll to the hoop.
This isn't a fresh iteration of the play. Its usage is new, especially with Franz Wagner operating as the ball-handler. Orlando is generating 1.28 points per possession when the team calls Early Exit Stack/Spain Leak with Franz as the ball-handler.
Wagner has recorded 7 points on the play, including an and-one and a potential assist. He's showcased a mastery of understanding how to decipher what coverages teams are in via the set immediately: drop or man-man -- punishing them regardless. The roller is wide open for a lob if the defense is caught unprepared. In the second clip, the Hornets defend the stack action with drop coverage: As Goga Bitadze sets a ball screen, his defender is dropped back to the free throw line. Bitadze's defender has eyes solely on the ball and fouls Goga on the lob attempt.
The other way Orlando has utilized Stack is the traditional vanilla method- having the guard set the back-screen and pop to the perimeter. This method has had an underwhelming volume due to its inefficiency. Despite the play generating open looks, Franz Wagner has utilized it to punish defenders at the rim. He's missed both of his attempts and has tallied one assist on the set this season, finding his brother wide-open on the roll against the Indiana Pacers.
As we fast-forward to present day, it's important to note a common theme. Until last night in Phoenix every single stack or spain leak possession leading up to that game had been with Franz Wagner operating as the ball-handler. That changed yesterday.
Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer was adamant about not allowing Franz Wagner to torch his team again. "As a rookie, I somehow caught [Wagner's] biggest games when he was a rookie," Budenholzer said, referring back to his days as the coach for the Bucks. The former NBA Champion head coach had court-side seats to Franz Wagner hanging 38 points in his rookie season to his Milwaukee squad.
True to his word, Mike Budenholzer came out of the gates swinging. Each possession in the first quarter deployed double teams and switched to blitz Franz Wagner each time he touched the basketball, forcing it out of his hands.
Jamahl Mosley paced on the sidelines the entire first quarter searching for answers as he watched Franz tally two points, attempting just two shots despite playing just over 10 of the 12 minutes in the quarter.
For a coach who has been knocked for not making adjustments, Mosley provided an answer, countering the Suns defensive scheme in the second quarter. The adjustment was simple: Mosley smacked his fists together on the sideline, indicating to his team he wanted to run "Stack." This time with a twist, inserting Anthony Black as the ball-handler and using Franz Wagner as the back-screener in an attempt to alter the defensive pressure he'd been facing.
In vintage Black "magic" fashion, Anthony took the reigns of the offense and never let go. This is a simple lob pass, right? No, it isn't. It's the "stack action" Jamahl Mosley just called to run with Franz Wagner as the back-screener. As opposed to forcing it to Wagner, whom it was designed for, Black surveys a pair of Suns defenders and travels with Franz to the perimeter; the sophomore guard freezes the defense and tallies his first assist of the night to his Georgian big man instead.
As a lead guard, your information-processing ability triggers you to accumulate tiny, winning edges that don't appear on the stat sheet. Black did just that, revealing a glimpse of a superpower he'll look to possess more of throughout the season for Orlando's offense.
On the following offensive possession Black runs the same set -- stack pick-and-roll with Franz Wagner as the back-screener once again.
The Suns don't double Franz Wagner this time, so Black is presented with various options. He ultimately elects to keep it himself, utilizing his crafty 6'7 frame to drive to the rim and finish off the glass. His shot hits the front of the iron, but his trusted green goblin teammate is there to clean up his mess.
Lessons from last season are starting to internalize. Professional habits are clicking into place. Anthony Black is mastering an ability many guards, young or old, don't posses throughout their careers. Punishing opponents with the same set, in different forms, forcing different defensive coverages each time. Dealing with a point guard who can puncture your coverage and spray passes all over the court is tough enough; but Black makes it tougher with his on-ball aggressiveness.
Once again, you see the same play. He runs the team's stack set for the third consecutive offensive possession. This time, the Sun's defense switches to blitz. What does Anthony Black do? He finds Franz Wagner wide open on the back-screen pop to the perimeter, the way the play was supposed to be run initially.
The possibilities Black invented from one of the most basic plays in the Magic playbook designed for Franz Wagner were jarring and almost endless. In 33 minutes, Anthony Black was the precise spark Franz Wagner needed to look like himself again. He finished with 32 points, eight assists, and five rebounds and hit four 3s to fuel Orlando's second road victory this season and sixth consecutive win in a row.
The growth that both Anthony Black and Franz Wagner have shown is enough to raise the aspirations of the entire franchise. This front office has already reaped the rewards of patience and "internal growth." With Paolo Banchero's absence forcing new roles, the team is somehow finding a different level. As a potential return looms, one thing is clear: Orlando is the real deal.
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