THE STRENGTHS OF FRANZ WAGNER | JOSH COHEN'S DEEP DIVE

THE STRENGTHS OF FRANZ WAGNER | JOSH COHEN’S DEEP DIVE

The staple of Fron’s game, of course, is his driving ability. This has been his number one strength since entering the NBA in 2021. There’s an argument to be made that he’s the best 6’10 or above driver in league history. You know, he’s one of a kind when it comes to his size mixed with his footwork, craftiness, speed adjusting, patience, and ball protection while navigating toward the basket and finishing with great touch from any direction and angle. Last year, he ranked eighth in shot attempts on drives and number one among players over 68, and he made a shade under 49% of them in general and 65% of them in the restricted area. What was a little different last season compared to his first three years was that he was taking more mid-range shots and floaters. In 2024-25, 12.2% of his shot attempts were from the mid-range and 16% of his attempts were floaters. The prior year, those marks were 5.2% from the mid-range and 9% were floaters. He made 40.1% of his mid-range shots last season, 14% better than the previous year. Something else I noticed was that he was using the glass more. The data shows he made 42% of his bank shots this past season. Recently, while talking to German media ahead of the upcoming FIA Euro basket competition, he mentioned he’s been working on his postup game. We saw an increase in that a bit last year, but it’s clear this is something that’s important for him to do more of going forward. He even noted himself that he was less effective when being defended by smaller, faster players, which is evident in the data. Last year, he shot 47.2% when defended by forwards or centers and 44.5% when defended by guards. Using his size to his advantage in the post just as it is for Paulo Benro is something that can be a gamecher for France and the Magic as a whole. Is interesting that last year albeit on just 43 attempts he made 44.2% of his corner threes. It was above the break where he struggled. But the thing about the corner three-point shooting is that if he’s playing off the ball, which he will do more of when on the floor with Paulo, Jaylen Suggs, and Desmond Bane, the corner threes might be more important than the shots he takes from elsewhere around the arc. Something else he could get back to doing more of on a healthier, fuller Magic team is cutting more, which is arguably his most underrated strength. Last year, he took 104 shots on cuts and made 70.2% of them. Among the 34 players who took at least 100 of these shots, that was the fourth best mark. The only players who shot it better were Mikuel Bridges and Josh Hart of the Knicks and LeBron James of the Lakers. On the topic of cutting, Fron is excellent at finding cutters when orchestrating the offense. He made 63 passes last year to cutters that led directly to shots, and his teammates made 66% of them. Fron averaged a career-high 4.7 assists in general last year. Rounding out his game is a supreme defense both on and off the ball. We saw him do a masterable job covering some of the games top backcourt players last year including Donovan Mitchell, Trey Young, and Damen Lillard. For the season, guard shot just 42% from the field when France contested their shots. He possesses the size, lateral quickness, instincts, and anticipation to cause havoc on ball handlers. And then his high basketball IQ makes him a terrific positional defender where he’s always in the right spot to be a highlevel defensive playmaker. Fron is now getting ready with his German national team for FIA Eurob Basket 2025. In the last three international competitions, Germany won bronze at Eurob Basket 2022, gold at the FIA World Cup in 2023, and finished fourth at the Olympics in 2024. Joining Fron’s German team is his Magic teammate Tristan Dilva. And Germany will be part of group B playing in Finland. If they advance to the knockout phase, those games will be in Lafia.

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