Franz Wagner 'Progressing Well,' Upgraded to Questionable vs. Portland

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner has been upgraded to questionable ahead of the Magic's Thursday night matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.

It is the first time he's not been listed as out since the fourth-year forward tore his right oblique on Dec. 6 at Philadelphia.

Wagner was a participant in the Magic's Thursday morning shootaround. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said he was "obviously progressing well, so we'll see what the day brings him after this shootaround."

However, regarding the change in status itself, Mosley reiterated that it was a positive sign. And before Wagner could answer the same question when he met reporters at Thursday's session, a cheeky smile broke across his face.

"It means that I might play, I might not. [We'll] see how the day goes," Wagner said. "But it feels really good. It was a long process and I'm not the most patient person, so [it was] not that easy for me, but it feels good to be done with it."

Added Wagner before that: "It's super exciting... I'm happy to play soon."

Wagner has missed the last 20 games due to injury – 16 due to the torn right abdominal muscle (Dec. 8- Jan. 12) and the last four because of return to competition reconditioning (Jan. 15-21). Before going down with the same injury as All-Star teammate Paolo Banchero, Wagner was averaging 24.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 46.5/32.1/88.1 percent shooting splits through 25 games.

Yet, 20 of those 25 games came without Banchero because of the former No. 1 overall pick's ailment. Wagner's play was a catalyzing reason as to how the Magic went 13-7 without one of their two best players.

Banchero recently returned from his 10-week absence and has played in six games. Now, the return of his star frontcourt mate seems imminent over the coming games.

"I think that you can recognize who those pieces are that are all coming back, one, but just having a team that’s going to, at some point, be whole," Mosley said. "We haven’t been whole other than five games this year, and I think that’s very important for us to register and recognize.

"So getting guys back slowly, and you see the rehab the guys have done [and] the work they’ve done to get themselves back on the court, but just to join the group again on the court is so important and it does lift guys’ spirits up a ton.”

The news of Wagner's upgrade to questionable comes after ESPN reported that he'd begun contact work last week while the Magic were in Boston. The same report, which came out on Jan. 17, mentioned that Orlando was hopeful to get the No. 8 pick from the 2021 NBA Draft back in 7-10 days.

Thursday's matchup with Portland (Jan. 23), Saturday's contest vs. Detroit (Jan. 25) and Monday's game at Miami (Jan. 27) all fall in or around that window before Orlando heads west for their only other large West Coast trip this season. The first of those five games comes Thursday, Jan. 30 at Portland.

Asked before Sunday's home game before the Denver Nuggets about the latest on Wagner's status, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said: "Being able to get on the floor, do some conditioning, and getting a little bit more bumps with guys on the floor with him. He was able to do some stuff [Saturday] as well as [Sunday], and I think it's just going to see how responds to those two episodes those two times [Monday]."

Orlando is 23-22 this season, now having slipped to eighth in the Eastern Conference after dropping four straight contests. Since Wagner went down, the Magic are just 7-13 as injuries have mounted. The first 14 of those games came without Banchero, the last nine have been without Jalen Suggs, and the last 15 have been without Franz's brother Moe Wagner.

Other injury updates from shootaround...

As for the rest of the Magic's injury report, all of Cole Anthony (illness), Jonathan Isaac (illness), Gary Harris (left hamstring strain) and Jett Howard (left ankle sprain) join Franz as questionable.

Mosley said Anthony was not at the Magic's shootaround on Thursday, still ill from Tuesday in Toronto. "We're gonna see – more than anything, we're trying to let him get some rest to see how he feels coming into tonight," Mosley said.

Isaac, however, was present at the Magic's team shootaround and is expected to be available tonight. He's feeling "much better," Mosley said.

Harris and Howard each remain questionable after Thursday's shootaround, as the two went through on-court workouts following the shootaround.

Here was Jett Howard (questionable; left ankle sprain) and Gary Harris (questionable; left hamstring strain) doing on-court work at Thursday’s #Magic shootaround ahead of the Portland matchup: pic.twitter.com/GdOG6sjb6X
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) January 23, 2025

Goga Bitadze, who's been in concussion protocol for the last four games, is doubtful to return. He went through on-court work as well Thursday morning, and the Magic will see how he responds as they try to get some clearance for him in the process.

"I think some of it now is what is he physically able to do, whether there's a little bit of contact," Mosley said. "Right now, we're going no-contact to see where he is right now, and then as we progress forward, there'll be maybe some physical contact to see if he can bounce past that one."

Besides Moe Wagner, who tore his ACL in his left knee on Dec. 21, Suggs is the only player on the Magic's 15-man roster who is out, missing his 10th straight game with a low back strain suffered Jan. 3 at Toronto.

But, he continued doing on-court work after the Magic's shootaround.

While #Magic guard Jalen Suggs (out; low back strain) was going through his on-court workout as he works toward a return, coach Jamahl Mosley hopped in for a few reps: pic.twitter.com/ab3w18iiKk
— Mason Williams (@mvsonwilliams) January 23, 2025

To see the full injury report, for the Magic, click here.

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Other injury updates from shootaround...

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