By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Orlando Magic will retain Moritz Wagner for the 2025-26 season.
The deal on a one-year contract extension worth five million dollars was revealed by ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania on Friday.
After suffering a torn ACL in his left knee, the 28-year-old German power forward, the older brother of Magic teammate Franz, missed the bottom end of the 2024-25 campaign with the franchise based in Florida. Therefore, he was limited to 30 appearances in the Regular Season, tallying a career-high 12.9 points per contest, alongside 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game.
Focusing on rehab during the offseason and looking to be medically cleared for the 2025-26 campaign, he will skip the EuroBasket 2025. Earlier experience with the senior national team of Germany is headlined by winning a gold medal in the FIBA World Cup 2023. He also suited up in the Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2021 in Split. Success at the junior level includes helping to earn first place in the U18 European Championship 2014.
Following three NCAA seasons with Michigan, the Berlin native was selected with the 25th overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. After one year in Los Angeles, he moved to the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics, before joining the Magic midway through the 2020-21 season. Overall, he has logged 370 games in the league based in North America, including seven in the 2024 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel.