Franz Wagner Updated to Questionable For Magic’s Thursday Game 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 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.

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.

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.

Goga Bitadze, who’s been in concussion protocol for the last four games, is doubtful to return. 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. And, Moe Wagner won’t return this season after tearing his ACL in his left knee, undergoing a successful surgery to repair the torn ligament on Jan. 8.

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

This story will be updated.

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