Franz Wagner is the most recent beneficiary of the NBA’s continued wage increase.
Since being made the No. 8 general decide within the 2021 NBA Draft, the combo ahead has developed right into a franchise cornerstone in Orlando for a workforce that surprisingly earned the No. 5 seed within the Japanese Convention final season.
Wagner, a College of Michigan alum who will flip 23 in August, agreed to a $224 million extension from his Magic squad, which may very well be value as much as $269 million with incentives, based on ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal is believed to be the most important in franchise historical past and would kick in for the 2025-26 season.
The report additionally notes that Wagner’s incentives embrace eligibility to earn 30 % of the Magic’s wage cap if he will get named to an All-NBA workforce, which is widespread within the league relating to large contracts.
Wagner averaged a career-best uncooked numbers throughout the board this previous season.
The 6-foot-10 German posted 19.7 factors, 5.3 rebounds and three.7 assists per recreation in 2023-24, all career-highs.
Wagner additionally shot an environment friendly 48.2 % from the sphere, although he solely hit 28.1 % from three-point vary on 4.6 makes an attempt per contest, by far the worst displaying of his profession from downtown.
Regardless of his regression from deep, Wagner is seen because the Magic’s second-best participant behind All-Star Paolo Banchero.
The workforce will look to construct off their 47-35 marketing campaign, which ended within the first spherical of the playoffs after pushing the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers to seven video games.
The previous Michigan star will swimsuit up for Germany on the Paris Olympics this summer time.