NBA Rumors: Magic’s Franz Wagner out indefinitely with oblique injury | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner is out indefinitely due to a torn right oblique muscle he suffered in his team’s 102-94 road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

It’s a devastating blow to magic, who were already without All-Star Paolo Banchero for all but the first five games of the regular season due to a torn right oblique muscle.

Wagner is having a phenomenal season, helping the Magic to third place in the Eastern Conference at 16-9 thanks to his 24.4 points, 5.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. He averaged 31.7 points per game in his last three contests.

He and Banchero were one of the NBA’s best duos early on, as the 2022 No. 1 overall pick posted 29.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in his five games.

Banchero doesn’t have a specific timetable for a return yet, but he did offer some encouraging updates on SI on December 1, according to Magic’s Mason Williams.

“I’m good, man,” Banchero said. “On this training trip I was finally able to do a few things on the court – a bit of ball handling, a bit of point shooting. It felt really good to just do these things again because I literally hadn’t done anything in a month. It was my first time.” I could actually dribble a ball, shoot a ball, so it felt really good to do that.

“Obviously it wasn’t about sprints or cuts or anything like that, but hopefully in the next few weeks I can start doing more of that and just get back into my playing shape,” Banchero added.

Meanwhile, the Magic will have to play without their two star forwards, which is a tall order for a team whose offensive production revolves around those two.

Jalen Suggs (15.5 PPG), Moe Wagner (12.8 PPG), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (8.3 PPG) and Anthony Black (8.0 PPG) will certainly be asked to provide more offensive production. The same goes for rookie Tristan Da Silva (7.1 PPG), who starts in place of Banchero. Jett Howard is also an obvious candidate for more playing time.