The free agent frenzy rolls on. The latest player to receive life-altering money is Franz Wagner of the Magic.
Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic have come to terms on a five-year max contract extension, according to ESPN and The Athletic. The extension will pay Wagner an estimated $224 million, and that number could elevate significantly if he reaches certain bench marks next season. If Wagner balls out and is selected to an All-NBA team in 2024-25, then the extension will kick in at a whopping 30% of the following season’s salary cap and pay him a projected $269 million over five years, according to ESPN.
This is a similar breakdown to the contract extension that Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes agreed to early last week. Barnes, notably, agreed to a deal that did not come with a player option on the fifth and final season. Although not confirmed, it is thought that Wagner did the same.
The glaring difference between the short careers of Barnes and Wagner is he has yet to make an All-Star team. And his 3-point percentage took a nose dive from 36.1% in his second campaign all the way down to 28.1% in 2023-24, so a $51 million salary in 2029-30, presuming he does not make All-NBA, might seem over the top. If the Magic have confidence that the shooting will regulate itself, this is not necessarily a bad deal from a financial standpoint. They will get the bang for their buck.
Wagner has yet to prove that he is the definition of a “max” player, however, starting next offseason, the NBA’s salary cap is expected to increase dramatically by 10% for several years as a result of the league’s new media-rights deal. Since Wagner’s year-over-year raises are halted at 8% of his salary in the first year of his extension, as with any long-term deal signed this summer, will pay him less and less as a proportion of the cap as time goes on.
Embed from Getty ImagesWagner has a long career ahead of him. He is just an NBA baby, turning 23 in August. This past season, he averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 32.5 minutes for the Magic, with a 25% usage rate and a 57.5% true shooting percentage. Along with former No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero out of Duke, he is most definitely one of the franchise’s cornerstones, being counted on in the present and the future, and, as a 6-foot-10 wing who can smartly move his feet and defend multiple positions, he is the type of player every team is wants on their roster. By agreeing to this contract, Orlando is betting on Wagner’s continued growth and improvement, but they should know better than anyone else in the league how motivated and likely he is to reach his full potential.
Wagner has gotten off to a historic start to his Magic career, joining the best three player in Magic history, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard and Tracy McGrady in scoring at least 4,000 points before his 23rd birthday, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Wagner, the No. 8 pick in 2021 out of the University Michigan, registered seven 30-point outings last season and ranked in the top 10 of made layups and dunks, according to Second Spectrum.
On Tuesday, ESPN reported that Wagner’s brother, roommate and teammate, Moe, had agreed to re-up with the Magic on a two-year, $22 million deal. On Friday, Moe posted on social media a ventage photo of his younger brother asleep with a pacifier in his mouth, along with the caption, “This guy is a NBA Max player… Insanity.”
