Michigan's Franz Wagner Drafted No. 8 Overall In NBA Draft By Orlando Magic
With the No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic selected former Michigan Wolverines basketball wing Franz Wagner, becoming the first draft pick for U-M head coach Juwan Howard, who is entering his third year on the job.
The Berlin, Germany, native is the second player regarded as a small forward to come off the board in the draft.
If his brother, Moe Wagner, re-signs with Orlando, where he finished the 2020-21 season, the two siblings will team up next year.
"He has bragging rights on his brother, Moe Wagner, for being picked higher in the draft, and will have ample opportunity to rub it into Moe, because he's also with the Magic," ESPN's Reece Davis said on the broadcast.
"He's got mobility, he's got a seven-foot wingspan, and he's really smart in how he defends off the ball; he gets steals and blocks," analyst Jay Bilas said. "He's versatile on the offensive end, as well. He's a great cutter, moves without the ball. And oftentimes, he will cut into a driving opportunity — so he'll cut, catch and then get a drive off of that.
"His real value is defensively, because he can switch off onto multiple positions and impact the ball, then get it out into transition. He handles it really well.
"He needs to improve his shooting, but he's got a great IQ on both ends of the floor and a great feel for the game. He's still incredibly young — he's younger than a lot of the prospects that are going to be drafted next year."
Michigan's ninth first-round pick since 2013, Wagner is the highest-drafted former Michigan player since Nik Stauskas, who went No. 8 overall in 2014, and first Wolverine picked since 2019, when Jordan Poole was taken at No. 28 (first round) to the Golden State Warriors and Ignas Brazdeikis went No. 47 (second round) to the New York Knicks.
Michigan has now seen 12 former Michigan players (not including Epke Udoh, who transferred to Baylor following the 2008 season and was drafted in 2010) taken in the draft since former head man John Beilein — the winningest coach in school history — spearheaded the program's resurgence beginning in 2007.
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Coming out of Germany, Wagner has already enjoyed a taste of professional basketball, having played on a dual contract with Alba Berlin (BBL) and SSV lok Bernau (ProB) in 2018-19.
He joined the Wolverines in the summer ahead of the 2019-20 season, and was an immediate contributor as a freshman after missing the first four contests while battling back from a wrist injury suffered in preseason practices.
During that season, Wagner, who earned Big Ten All-Freshman honors, started all 27 games he played in, and was third on the team with 11.6 points per game. He posted 17 double-digit scoring games, and shot 45.2 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from long range. Wagner recorded 5.6 rebounds and one assist per contest, and also led the club in steals per game with 1.3.
Wagner took the next step as a sophomore, when he started all 28 games and ranked third on the squad in scoring with 12.5 points per contest while shooting 47.7 percent overall and 34.3 percent from three-point range. He was second on the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game, and also dished out three assists per clash. He also shined on the defense end of the floor, ranking third in the country in defensive box plus/minus rating (6.1) and swiping 1.3 steals per game.
He was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and third-team by the league's media, while helping lead the Wolverines to an outright Big Ten regular-season title and Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
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