Franz Wagner has always been one of the Orlando Magic’s cleanest answers. Need a scorer?
He can get downhill, work the pick and roll, and finish at the rim. Need a cutter?
He slips into gaps and shows up at the basket. What Wednesday’s preseason opener hinted at was something different: Wagner as the guy setting the table.
In Orlando’s 122-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Wagner spent more time in a primary playmaking role, and the offense looked freer because of it. He finished with seven assists in 14.5 first-half minutes, and the Magic posted a 157.1 offensive rating with him on the floor in the game. It was only the first preseason game, but it was the kind of early wrinkle that can matter for an offense that has too often felt stuck.
“That’s just what he does,” Tristan da Silva said after Wednesday’s win. “The way that he plays and skill set that he has allows him to be a threat at all times and attack the paint at all times.
Whether that is from long range, the mid-range or from short distance, he is a guy the defense has to collapse to. Franz is somebody who is really patient in the paint and makes the right decisions there.
It makes everybody else’s life way easier.”
That’s the part that stands out with Wagner. He has never lacked the ability to do a little bit of everything. What Orlando had not really asked him to do, at least not like this, was run the show.
The preseason opener offered a glimpse of a different distribution of responsibility. Paolo Banchero and Wagner combined for 12 assists, with Banchero adding five in the first half.
Passing was clearly a point of emphasis, and Sean Sweeney wanted his top players moving quickly, getting downhill, and spraying the ball out to the perimeter. Orlando took 45 3-pointers and made 20.
The difference wasn’t just the number of assists. It was how the Magic got to them.
Under Jamahl Mosley, Banchero often brought the ball up and initiated the offense. He averaged 5.2 assists per game and continued to grow as a passer, but that usage also meant a lot of dribbling outside the 3-point arc before the action could really begin. The possession could get bogged down.
With Wagner handling more of that work, the offense looked different. His decision-making showed up in new ways, and so did his playmaking.
Wagner averaged 3.3 assists per game last year and 4.7 assists per game in 2025. In the games Banchero missed last year, he averaged 3.9 assists per game.
In 2025, he averaged 6.3 assists per game. Even then, he still wasn’t really operating as a true point guard.
According to Second Spectrum data, Wagner averaged only 48.9 touches per game. That ranked fourth on the team behind Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black.
He was third in frontcourt touches at 30.8 per game. In other words, the ball simply was not in his hands enough for him to function as the primary engine.
That changed some in 2025, when Wagner ranked second on the team with 62.8 touches per game and 36.6 frontcourt touches per game. The injury likely took the ball out of his hands and, with it, some of his playmaking rhythm.
Even with that, Wagner has shown he can handle more. He has a career average of 3.6 assists per game, and last year’s 4.7 was the only season he finished above 4.0. Seven assists in the preseason opener matched a mark he reached just once last year, in the home win over the New York Knicks in late November, and 11 times in the 2025 season.
The point is simple: Orlando had not really given Wagner this kind of control before. On Wednesday, it did.
That matters because it changes what the rest of the offense can do, too. With Wagner initiating, Banchero can catch the ball on the move and work more as a screener and cutter. That is not a role he had been asked to fill very often.
Banchero and Wagner each went 2-for-7 from the floor in the game, and scoring was not the point. The point was the way Banchero got his chances.
He was moving quicker, making decisions faster, and getting to the line for 10 free throw attempts. He was not forced to hold the ball and reset everything himself.
There were still some possessions where both players settled into over-dribbling isolation. But even those looked faster and more aggressive than before.
The ball moved with more intent. The attack had more bite.
Orlando’s balance will shift as preseason goes on. Desmond Bane barely touched the ball and still made all three of his 3-pointers, while Jalen Suggs did not play. Banchero will also take on more of the initiation work at some point in the preseason.
Still, as an opening experiment, this was hard to miss. Wagner looked ready for more. And if the Magic keep leaning into that, the offense may finally start looking like it has more than one gear.
In Other News...
Franz Wagners All-Star Push Hinges On Orlandos Biggest Question
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Magic Face An Early Test As Rotation Questions Start To Build
Nikola Vucevics first appearance in a Magic uniform in five years gave Orlandos preseason a touch of nostalgia, but the bigger takeaway from the loss to Memphis was how quickly the teams early rotation questions are becoming part of the conversation. Sean Sweeney said the performance showed the kind of discipline the Magic will need to clean up on both ends, a familiar preseason message but one that carries extra weight as the group tries to sort out roles and rhythm.
The next checkpoint comes quickly with Cleveland on deck, and practice offered at least some sign of movement on the health front. Anthony Black, Noah Penda and Jalen Suggs were all involved to varying degrees as Orlando tries to get closer to full strength, even if the exact shape of the lineup remains unsettled heading into the next preseason game. [Read more 🡒]