Germany got off to a strong start in the 2023 World Cup on Friday, defeating Japan by a score of 81-63. However, the victory was marred to some extent by an injury to Magic forward Franz Wagner, who didn’t finish the game after turning his ankle.
Speaking after the game to reporters, Germany head coach Gordon Herbert said that it “looks like a slight sprained ankle” for Wagner, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link).
“We’ll know more after an MRI,” Herbert added, suggesting that Wagner’s ankle will undergo further testing before Germany’s next group-play game on Sunday vs. Australia.
If Wagner has a mild ankle sprain, as Herbert speculated, it shouldn’t have any impact on his availability for the Magic this fall. There are still several weeks until training camp, giving the former eighth overall pick plenty of time to recover.
However, it’s possible the ankle injury will affect Wagner’s availability for the German national team in the next few days. While Friday’s victory over Japan was a good start, Germany is in a tough group and will almost certainly need at least one more win in the first round – over either Australia on Sunday or Finland on Tuesday – to advance to the round of 16. Obviously, the Germans would like to have Wagner on the court for those games, if possible.
Wagner, who will turn 22 on Sunday, averaged 18.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 32.6 minutes per game across 80 appearances in 2022-23 for the Magic. He’s entering the third year of his rookie scale contract and will become extension-eligible during the 2024 offseason.
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