MIAMI — As the rest of the Magic went through various shooting drills on the Kaseya Center court Wednesday morning in South Florida, Orlando star Franz Wagner could only watch from behind the baseline as he rode a stationary exercise bike.
That’s all Wagner went through during the shootaround session in the morning prior to Orlando facing the Heat for the first time on the road this season, according to Magic coach Jamahl Mosley.
“He’s been on the bike,” Mosley told the Orlando Sentinel when asked what Wagner was able to do at shootaround in Miami.
Mosley added that Wagner was set to go through some standstill shooting after the completion of shootaround.
None of the recent non-contact on-court work, however, indicates that Wagner is close to making his way back after he was ruled out of his fourth consecutive contest.
Wagner previously missed 16 games due to a left high ankle sprain suffered Dec. 7 at New York. He returned for Orlando’s pair of overseas contests against the Grizzlies, first in his hometown of Berlin and then in London.
He played 27 minutes in his first game back and three days later saw 26 minutes of action. Then, according to Mosley, Wagner came up “really, really, really sore” after a shootaround session last Thursday before Orlando hosted Charlotte at Kia Center.
Wagner hasn’t suffered a setback, the Sentinel learned Wednesday, and this time spent managing the lingering soreness from the original sprain is viewed as a continuation of his rehab.
The Magic want Wagner to get his left ankle stronger and healthy again in order for him to be available for the final stretch of the regular season, a time in recent seasons when Orlando has gone on runs to solidify their postseason positioning.
Last year, the team won 12 of its final 18 regular-season games in order to finish 41-41 and earn home-court advantage as the No. 7 seed in the East’s Play-In Tournament. It went on to exit in the first round a second straight postseason after five games against No. 2 Boston.
It’s not believed Wagner has undergone additional imaging on his left ankle during this current stretch of missed games, the Sentinel learned.
Although time isn’t on their side with the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline rapidly approaching and the regular season starting to wind down — No. 8 Orlando sat a game behind No. 7 Miami and only half a game in front of No. 9 Chicago entering Wednesday’s slate of games — time might be the only cure for Wagner to recover properly.
After facing the Heat, the Magic return home for a matchup against the Raptors before traveling again for their lone trip of the season to San Antonio on Sunday and defending champion Oklahoma City two days later.
Heading into Wednesday’s game, the Magic had gone 8-11 without Franz Wagner this season.
“It’s great to try to look back and see what could or could not have happened,” Mosley said about Wagner’s rehab. “But those are things that you can no longer control. So, we’re just really focusing on, what are we doing moving forward? And what do we need to do with him moving forward?
“And that’s being smart and thinking of the long-term view of what we can do to prevent anything else from happening.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic vs. Raptors
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Kia Center
TV: ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Florida