The Magic hit the court inside Golden 1 Center in Sacramento for their first practice following the NBA All-Star break on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s game against the Kings.
Hours earlier, Orlando shared that Franz Wagner will be out indefinitely as he continues to experience soreness in his left ankle stemming from a high ankle sprain suffered Dec. 7 against the Knicks.
It’s the third time Wagner will miss games because of the injury that’s already kept him out of 25 contests. The team said he’ll be re-evaluated in approximately three weeks.
“It’s so important — his ability to get it all the way right where he’s not trying to be in, then out, and then the soreness continues to get to him,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said about Wagner’s injury. “Just making sure it’s right … It’s the long haul for him. It’s the long part of his career that we’re looking at more than anything.
“We care about these guys and make sure they (are) fully physically-able to play when they step on the court,” he added.
Avoiding Wagner being in and out of games, however, is something the Magic have already failed to do.
The 6-foot-10 forward first missed 16 games (Dec. 9-Jan. 11) due to the initial injury. He returned for Orlando’s pair of contests against the Grizzlies in his hometown of Berlin on Jan. 15 and again played three days later in London.
Upon returning back from Europe, however, he sat out the next nine games (Jan. 22-Feb. 7) while managing lingering soreness from the injury. Wagner then made his way back a second time while coming off the bench on a strict minutes restriction in Orlando’s pair of home games against the Bucks ahead of the league break.
Recent imaging confirmed Wagner requires additional time and rehabilitation before returning to full basketball activities, the team said.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s kind of come back twice, has been out and then has to be out again,” teammate Paolo Banchero said Wednesday. “So, we just want him to take his time, however long that is, and get all the way healthy because we don’t want him out there if he’s not feeling like himself. I think that’s the biggest thing, just letting him take his time to get healthy.”
When Wagner has been available, he’s served as a difference maker for Orlando.
The Magic are 12-13 without him this season and 16-12 with him.
In 28 games, Wagner has averaged 21.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals during 31.8 minutes per night.
“He’s one of our key pieces of our team,” Banchero said. “We need him out there but at the same time, we don’t want him coming back before he’s ready.”
Added Mosley: “There aren’t words to describe what Franz means to this team. His toughness, his resiliency, his desire and want to get back on the court … Every person on this team knows his work ethic and his care factor for this group.”
If anyone in the Magic locker room understands the need to take the proper time to recover from an injury, it’s Moe Wagner. The older brother of Franz, the Magic center took more than a year before returning from a torn left ACL suffered last season.
“First of all it sucks because he’s my brother and we have a pretty high-level relationship,” Moe Wagner said after practice. “He’s obviously not happy with it. He’s struggling emotionally and all of that stuff. You hate to see that for a family member.
“Obviously for us as players it’s big too because he has such a big impact on the game, but primarily I care more about the person and I feel very bad for him,” he added.
After facing the Kings on Thursday night, the Magic travel to Phoenix on Saturday before wrapping up their four-game West Coast trip against the Clippers and Lakers in Los Angeles. Orlando then returns for a four-game homestand that starts Feb. 26 against Houston.
The Magic will be without Franz Wagner for all eight of those games and likely more. Three weeks from Wednesday is March 11, meaning he’ll miss the next 10 contests before he’s re-evaluated.
With only 29 games remaining in the regular season, the Magic know it’ll be up to themselves to remain afloat in the East playoff race as Wagner works to return again.
“Definitely put together some great games here on the road trip, get some wins and just get ready for this push,” Banchero said when asked how the team wants to attack the final stretch of the regular season. “We’ve got to win some games (and) got to put ourselves in a good position for the postseason.
“This is a big stretch right here that we’re about to go down.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Kings
When: 10 p.m., Thursday, Golden 1 Center
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida