The basketball gods have been cruel to Orlando this season.
This looks bad when it happens – Moritz Wagner drove the road, stood up, and his knee simply left on him. Now, the worst is confirmed: Wagner tore his ACL, and he’s done for the season.
Moritz Wagner had an MRI today and the results showed that Wagner had sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Wagner will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season. pic.twitter.com/kfWhIi0VaX
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) December 22, 2024
Wagner is in the midst of his best season as a pro, averaging 12.9 points a game, shooting 36% from 3 with 4.9 rebounds a night. With that production he looks like a steal on the two-year, $22 million contract he signed last summer. Now, there is a shadow over the second season, which is a team option (it is very possible that Wagner will miss the training camp and part of the season recovering from this injury).
Wagner joins All-Star forward Paolo Banchero and younger brother Moritz Franz Wagner on the injured list, both of the other two with torn obliques (they should be back this season). Without three, and despite the efforts of Jalen Suggs, the Magic are struggling to score enough to win despite having one of the best defenders in the NBA.