Moritz and Franz Wagner are now the poster boys of German basketball. Now both are (severely) injured. What does this mean for the brothers, the Orlando Magic and the national team?
Franz Wagner clasped his hands in front of his face, slumped into his seat on the sidelines and the word that could be read from his lips almost certainly started with “F” and ended with “uck”. His brother Moritz had just fallen to the ground in the first quarter of the Orlando Magic’s NBA game against the Miami Heat, his face contorted in pain and holding his left knee.
Anyone who has ever seen or experienced what a torn anterior cruciate ligament looks like could have guessed what the diagnosis would be on December 21st. The next day, the bitter certainty came: a torn cruciate ligament and the season was over.
Abdominal muscle tear with Franz Wagner – comeback possibly in February?
The fact that brother Franz, who, like Moritz, has had an excellent season so far, was able to see this scene so clearly and wasn’t busy running free himself is because he has also been out due to injury for a little over two weeks. He was diagnosed at the beginning of December with a tear in the oblique abdominal muscles. It is currently unclear when he will be able to play basketball again, but he is definitely expected to return during the current season.
Franz Wagner and the Magic can use a teammate as a “blueprint” for the comeback: Paolo Banchero, the most important player in the team alongside Franz, suffered the same injury at the end of October. Banchero is now training again and, insiders suspect, could return soon. That would mean a good two months of downtime – so Franz could play for the Magic again after the All-Star weekend in mid-February and thus intervene in the last two months of the season and the final push for the playoff places. So much for the theory.
Injury sufferers Orlando Magic
Even though the Magic still won the game against Miami without Banchero, Franz – and without Moritz Wagner for three quarters – there are major concerns about injuries in the squad, and other players have also recently been out or were injured. With fourth place in the NBA East and 18 wins from 30 games, Orlando is in a very good position and would now be qualified for the playoffs.
However, the upcoming opponents are tough: The Boston Celtics (December 24th), Miami (December 27th) and New York (December 28th) are all also playing for the playoffs. After that, things will be a little more “pleasant” in terms of the schedule at the end of the year. For the Magic, it will be about staying in the race for the playoffs as well as possible until Banchero and then, in the medium term, Franz Wagner’s return. The first third of the season has already shown that the still relatively young team can do a lot with a good line-up.
Moritz Wagner will probably miss the European Championships
Moritz Wagner will definitely have to watch in a possible playoff series. A good six months of downtime is considered the minimum for a torn anterior cruciate ligament; for tall players like the 2.11 meter long Moritz Wagner, experience in the NBA is closer to nine months.
In addition to the obvious reasons, the timing of the cruciate ligament rupture is also bitter for other reasons: The European Basketball Championships in August are unlikely to be an issue for Moritz Wagner, even if his rehab goes optimally. [Die Deutsche Mannschaft ist noch nicht qualifiziert, die Zeichen stehen aber gut.] Because for him it’s also about securing his future in the NBA. Not in principle, because Wagner was playing his best season to date until his injury and delivered career bests in various categories.
How does the torn cruciate ligament affect Moritz Wagner’s next contract?
But when it comes to contract negotiations, the breach may be a mortgage. This season he is earning $11 million, the same he would get at Orlando next season – but that is “only” a team option. The club can therefore decide whether it would like to have the older Wagner brother in the squad for this amount in 2025/26.
Had he stayed healthy, this question would hardly have arisen, because he played “more valuable” than most NBA players with $11 million annual salaries do. He was even considered a candidate for the “Sixth Man of the Year” award, i.e. the best “substitute player,” if you will. For comparison: Malcom Brogdon, who won this award in 2023, deserves twice as much. A better deal for the future would have been entirely conceivable.
It seems unlikely that Moritz Wagner would jeopardize his NBA future by injuring himself again at the European Championships with many games in a short period of time immediately after completing rehab. As long as he’s fit again by then. In such cases, NBA teams usually insist that their players concentrate on pre-season preparation and rehabilitation.
Who will replace Mo Wagner at the European Championships?
It is certain that the 27-year-old will do pretty much everything during the upcoming rehab to get back into top shape quickly. Teammate Cole Anthony said immediately after the injury: “You won’t find anyone who works as hard as him.” Center Goga Bitadze also announced that he wanted to “pray” for his position colleague Wagner.
No one has to appeal to higher powers for the success of the national team; the 2023 world champion and fourth-place finisher at the 2024 Olympics is also one of the title candidates at the European Championships. Even if the expected Moritz Wagner loss would definitely weaken the team.
Who national coach Alex Mumbru could call instead: Isaiah Hartenstein. The Oklahoma City Thunder center is having an excellent season and was recently ignored by former national coach Gordon Herbert for various (probably non-sporting) reasons. In terms of sport, there would be no way around Hartenstein’s nomination anyway – but Moritz Wagner’s injury makes it even more urgent.