Michigan Basketball: Where Franz Wagner lands in latest NBA mock draft

Franz Wagner is expected to leave Michigan basketball for the 2021 NBA draft. He hasn’t declared yet but here’s where he’s going in the latest mock drafts. 

One thing that people may not know about Michigan basketball is that the program has a penchant for turning out pros and first-round picks.

Since the 2013 NBA draft, which is eight drafts total, Michigan basketball has had eight players selected in the first round of the draft and 10 overall.

Only two former Wolverines have gone in the lottery during this time: Trey Burke, who went 9th to the Utah Jazz, and also Nik Stauskas, who went eighth overall to the Kings.

Those numbers along with all the NCAA Tournament wins U-M has racked up since then, is why the Wolverines deserve to be talked about as a blue blood.

And in 2021, with Franz Wagner, it looks like Michigan will be adding to that total of first-round picks, the question is whether or not Wagner will make it to the lottery?

CBS Sports’ recent NBA mock draft which was released Friday by Gary Parrish, had Wagner going 21st overall to the New York Knicks. Here’s what he wrote about Wagner:

"“Wagner is a wing with size who has great feel and is a good passer. His 3-point shot must improve for him to meet expectations, but the fact that he shot 83.3% from the free-throw line suggests he’s capable of being an above-average shooter in time.”"

Wagner’s pro potential

While Parrish has Wagner outside the top 20, which is surprising, other mock drafts, including one right after March Madness had him going in the top 10. Another one recently by NBC Sports had him being selected 14th.

It feels like Wagner will wind up somewhere in the 10-20 range, assuming he declares for the NBA draft which he has not done yet.

To be honest, I’m not sure what the delay is at this point. It really doesn’t even seem like there is much of a deliberation going on. Wagner played professionally overseas before coming to Michigan and nearly chose a contract in Germany over college basketball.

So he’s been ready for a professional career. Obviously, his return would overjoy Michigan basketball fans, but don’t get your hopes up.

Wagner was a really good player for two years. Many still aren’t giving him credit for how good he was, while also wishing he would stay, which is weird.

When he does declare though and when the draft rolls around, he should easily be Michigan’s ninth first-round pick since 2013, a number that’s only going to increase with Juwan Howard at the helm.