An update on Michigan Basketball players in the NBA

Franz Wagner

When I said that Jordan Poole was the most exciting former Michigan basketball player to watch in the NBA, well, there might be a tie with Franz Wagner.

Nobody expected Franz to be as good as he is right now. Franz is averaging 15.4 ppg, and looks every bit the steady, consistent presence that he unfortunately wasn’t far too often in his Michigan career.

Part of his success can probably be attributed to a lot of playing time, as the Orlando Magic are very bad this year, and have to rely heavily on rookies, but still. I don’t think everyone realizes how hard it is to be as tall as Franz is and still be efficient, all in his rookie season.

Franz has set a few Orlando Magic records, as his 38 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 28th were the most by a rookie the entire season. He also joined fellow Orlando Magic greats Dennis Scott and Shaquille O’Neal as the only rookies to score 38 points in a game. The 38 points are the third-most by a rookie in the franchise’s history.

This doesn’t even include the fact that Franz Wagner scored the second-most points by a Magic rookie in franchise history through 30 games, scoring 437, right behind Shaq’s 679.

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1473387683879784450?s=20

Franz is now in the top-5, and usually, in the top-3 of Kia’s Rookie of the Year ladder. I don’t know if Franz will end up winning Rookie of the Year, but so far this season, he’s made a very solid case to be in serious contention, as not a lot of other rookies even come close to his level of efficiency and production.

Oh, and he posterizes players too: