The 2025-26 season was a difficult one for Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner.

Due to a high ankle sprain suffered in December against the New York Knicks and other injury issues, Wagner was limited to just 34 regular season games, the lowest mark of his career. In the playoffs, the Magic seemed to be at full strength with their core of Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs, but Wagner suffered a calf strain in Game 4 of Orlando’s first-round playoff series against the Detroit Pistons, causing him to miss the rest of the series. The Magic would end up squandering a 3-1 lead.

The injuries have not fallen solely on Wagner, though, as the Magic have struggled with them happening to key players for multiple years now. There have been times when Wagner was healthy, but Banchero was not, and that created new challenges he had to adapt to.

Recently, Wagner spoke with HoopsHype about a variety of topics, and one of them was handling new responsibilities when Banchero is not on the court with him.

"It can be a challenge," Wagner said. "I know for individual coaches, too, sometimes that you kind of have to work on a little bit of everything. That's a big part of becoming a really good player is finding your niche a little bit and the things that you want to be really good at, and because you can't work on everything all summer, it's really important to pick two or three things that will get you the biggest reward. 

"And even stretches with Paolo out, they gave me a lot of confidence because I was more on the ball and was able to make a lot of decisions, and sometimes even too much so, maybe, making some mistakes," Wagner added. "But it's important as a player to get that opportunity. It's important to go through those mistakes sometimes, and that's the only way you're really going to grow and get better. I've tried to embrace those moments and just do the best I can."

Early in the season, Banchero missed 10 games due to a groin strain, and it was on Wagner to pick up the slack, which he did.

In the 10 games without Banchero, Wagner averaged 23.6 points per game, with his high mark coming via a 37-point effort in a 133-121 over the Knicks only weeks before he got hurt against them. Banchero and Wagner have proven that each can take the reins when the other misses time, but it does not mean the task is easy.

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