{"id":536233,"date":"2026-01-14T15:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/536233\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:12:13","slug":"franz-wagner-set-to-make-return-for-orlando-magic-in-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/536233\/","title":{"rendered":"Franz Wagner set to make return for Orlando Magic in Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Magic<\/a> fans only had one question heading into Thursday\u2019s game between Orlando<\/a> and Memphis<\/a> in Berlin at Uber Arena.<\/p>\n

Will Franz Wagner<\/a> play?<\/p>\n

The Magic shared their answer Wednesday morning when the team submitted its initial injury report for Thursday\u2019s contest and Wagner wasn\u2019t listed on it.<\/p>\n

After missing the past 16 games due to a left high ankle sprain, Wagner will be available to play in his home country of Germany for coach Jamahl Mosley<\/a> and alongside his older brother Moe Wagner<\/a> against the Grizzlies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Magic guard Jalen Suggs<\/a> (right knee MCL bruise) and two-way forward Colin Castleton (left thumb fracture) remain out. For Suggs, Thursday is his sixth straight missed game with the right knee injury.<\/p>\n

Speaking after Tuesday\u2019s practice in Berlin, Franz Wagner was hopeful about his chances of making his way back to the court. He last played Dec. 7 at New York, the night he appeared to suffer a serious left leg injury.<\/p>\n

Wagner, however, avoided the worst when an MRI revealed the next day<\/a> he was only dealing with a high ankle sprain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good,\u201d Wagner said Tuesday afternoon<\/a>. \u201cIt felt good to move a little bit after the long flight. And I\u2019m excited for Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Magic forward averaged 22.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.17 steals in 33.4 minutes per night the first 24 games of the season. In that span, he scored in double figures 23 times, 20-plus points 18 times and 30-plus points twice.<\/p>\n

Without him, Orlando (22-18) went 8-8 in 16 contests. The team has alternated between wins and losses for 13 games straight.<\/p>\n

The return is timely not only because Wagner will be able to play on the very court he spent his childhood training in Berlin, but he\u2019ll also be able to play alongside his older brother for the first time in more than a year.<\/p>\n

Although Moe Wagner last played Dec. 21, 2024 before making his return last Sunday at Kia Center, Franz Wagner had been out at the time with a right abdominal muscle injury that forced him to miss 20 games during the 2024-25 campaign.<\/p>\n

Now, Franz and Moe Wagner are poised to share the court for the first time since Dec. 6, 2024 on Thursday in Berlin \u2014 a memory that will likely last a lifetime for the German brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here driving through the city, we\u2019re seeing our friends (and) we\u2019re combining our two worlds together,\u201d Moe Wagner said Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cThat means the world to us. So, that\u2019s the main thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Grizzlies<\/p>\n

When:\u00a02 p.m., Thursday, Uber Arena (Berlin, Germany)<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0FanDuel Sports Network Florida\/Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Magic fans only had one question heading into Thursday\u2019s game between Orlando and Memphis in Berlin at Uber…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[7,165,48,6,47,76,3883,1412,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-536233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando-magic","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-magic","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-orlando","13":"tag-orlando-magic","14":"tag-orlandomagic","15":"tag-social","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115894101216575909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}