Victor Moritz "Mo" Wagner (born April 26, 1997) is a German professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the Orlando Magic of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He played for Alba Berlin before moving to the US to play college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines from 2015 through his junior season for the 2017–18 Wolverines team. The forward entered his name for the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

without hiring an agent, but withdrew and returned to Michigan. He was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a 2018 All-Big Ten second team selection by both the coaches and the media. Following the season, he was the

2018 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament The 2018 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was held from February 28 through March 4, 2018 at Madison Square ...

MVP helping the team earn the Big Ten tournament championship for the second time in a row. He was also named to the West Region All-Tournament Team and Final Four All-Tournament Team during the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament. He has represented the Germany national team. His brother Franz Wagner plays

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

for the Orlando Magic.

Early career

Wagner started his basketball career in the youth ranks of Alba Berlin. In 2013–14, Wagner played for the club's under-19 Bundesliga squad, which won the German championship. In 2014–15, he played on Alba Berlin's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

roster, appearing in four games of the German league, scoring 2.3 points per contest. He also played in two Euroleague games during the 2014-15 season.

College career

Wagner first came to the attention of

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

head coach

John Beilein John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before being hired b ...

in 2014 through an email from a former coaching acquaintance in Germany. Wagner also used social contacts to forward a self-made highlight video to Beilein. Ultimately, Beilein flew to Berlin to recruit Wagner. In April 2015, Wagner announced his decision to attend the University of Michigan and play for the Michigan Wolverines. By opting to go to college, he turned down an offer to play professionally.

Freshman season

On March 16, 2016, in the First Four round of the

2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 20 ...

, Michigan defeated

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, 67–62. After blocking two shots all season, Wagner posted four blocks and had a season-high eight

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

against Tulsa. 20170301 NW-UM Moe Wagner at the rim

Sophomore season

Wagner's five steals in the March 9, 2017 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament opener against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

was a single-game high for the tournament. Three days later, Michigan won its first Big Ten tournament championship since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. On March 19, Wagner's career-high 26 points helped Michigan defeat

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

73–69 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. For the season, Wagner started all 38 games and averaged 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 39.5% on three-pointers. He finished the season as the team's leading rebounder. Following the season, he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media. On April 10, 2017, both Wagner and teammate D. J. Wilson declared for the

, but did not hire agents, which gave them until May 24 to withdraw their names and retain their athletic eligibility to return to Michigan. Declaring early enabled him to participate in workouts with NBA teams and made him eligible for an invitation to the May 9–14

NBA Draft Combine The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase that takes place every May before the annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players are measured and take medical tests, are interviewed, perform various athletic tests and shootin ...

. On April 30, 2017, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported that he was invited to the NBA draft Combine. On May 24, 2017, Wagner decided to pull out of the 2017 draft and return to Michigan for the 2017–18 season.

Junior season

Wagner was selected to the 2017 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team. He was also one of two Big Ten players named to the 21-man

Karl Malone Award The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded ...

watch list. He was a preseason

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

and

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to the top men's and women's collegiate basketball players. It is named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. History an ...

watchlist honoree. On January 13, 2018, Wagner scored a career-high 27 points as Michigan defeated the fourth-ranked

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

82–72 in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

; Wagner shot 8-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Following the 2017–18 Big Ten Conference men's basketball regular season, Wagner had accumulated more three-point field goals (47) than any NCAA player or taller and was a second team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and the media. On March 2, Michigan defeated

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

77–58 in the quarterfinals of the

. Wagner recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. His 13 rebounds marked a single-game high for the 2018 tournament through the first two rounds. The following day, in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament Wagner scored his 1,000th career point, becoming the 54th Wolverine to reach the milestone. He finished the game with a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds in a 75–64 victory over the second-ranked Michigan State Spartans. In the March 4, 2018 Big Ten tournament championship game against Purdue, Wagner scored 17 points to help lead Michigan to their second consecutive Big Ten tournament championship. Wagner was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. In the 2018 tournament, Wagner averaged 15.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Wagner, who averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in the first four games of the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament, was joined by Wolverines teammates Matthews and

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (born September 1, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. Abdur-Rahkman p ...

on the West Region All-tournament team. Having reached the Final Four, Michigan defeated Loyola–Chicago 69–57 in the national semifinals on March 31. Wagner recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Wagner became the first player with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a national semifinal game since Hakeem Olajuwon in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. On April 2, Michigan lost to (#2

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

/#2

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

) Villanova 62–79 in the National Championship Game. Wagner recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team. For the tournament he averaged 15.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 steals, while shooting 38.5% on his three-point shots. For the season, Wagner averaged 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds and shot 52.8% overall and a team-best 39.4% on his three-point shots. On March 21, Wagner became an Academic All-Big Ten honoree. On April 14, 2018, Wagner announced that he would enter the 2018 NBA draft and hire an agent. On May 1, Wagner signed with

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

's Joe Branch, who has represented former Michigan teammate

Caris LeVert Caris Coleman LeVert (born August 25, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. As a freshman for the ...

. Later that day, he received an invitation to the

NBA Draft combine The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase that takes place every May before the annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players are measured and take medical tests, are interviewed, perform various athletic tests and shootin ...

Professional career

Los Angeles Lakers (2018–2019)

On June 21, 2018, Wagner was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. On July 1, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Lakers. On July 10, Wagner injured both his left knee and left ankle in the Las Vegas Summer League. He was sidelined for all of training camp and the preseason by the knee injury. Wagner was assigned to the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first National Basketball Associa ...

on rehab assignment on October 26. Wagner made his G-League debut for the South Bay Lakers on November 3, scoring 17 points in 29 minutes in a 108–106 loss to the Stockton Kings. He made his NBA debut on November 17 against the Orlando Magic. On December 2, in a 120–96 victory against the Phoenix Suns, Wagner scored his first NBA points (a pair of free throws) and finished the game with 10 points. On March 9, 2019, Wagner scored a season-high 22 points with six rebounds, three assists and a block in his first career start in a 107–120 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Washington Wizards (2019–2021)

On July 6, 2019, Wagner was traded to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

, along with

Isaac Bonga Isaac Evolue Etue Bofenda Bonga (born November 8, 1999) is a German professional basketball player who is playing for FC Bayern München of the German Basketball Bundesliga and the EuroLeague. Standing , he began his professional career with Sky ...

, Jemerrio Jones, and a 2022 second-round pick, in a three-team trade where the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis. On November 15, playing against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, Wagner became the first NBA player to score 30 points and obtain 15 rebounds coming off the bench since Yao Ming in 2002 and the first to post such numbers in under 26 minutes played in since

Len Chappell Leonard R. Chappell (January 31, 1941 – July 12, 2018) was an American basketball player. He played for 10 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA) and was selected to one NBA All-Star Ga ...

in 1967. Wagner also drew three charges in the game and was the first NBA player to ever post 30 points and 15 rebounds (both career highs) with 4 three-point shots off the bench. Wagner missed 24 games with an ankle sprain before returning to the lineup on February 3 against the Golden State Warriors. He was named to the

Rising Stars Challenge The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball exhibition game held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. The current format to be used in 2022 includes first- an ...

at the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend, where he scored 16 points for the world team.

Boston Celtics (2021)

On March 25, 2021, Wagner was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade involving the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

. On March 26, Wagner made his debut for the Celtics in a 122–114 win over the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, finishing with three points and five rebounds across 10 minutes of play. On April 16, he was waived by the Celtics.

Orlando Magic (2021–present)

Wagner signed with the Orlando Magic for the rest of the

2020-21 NBA season The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

on April 27, 2021. On April 28, he debuted for the Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wagner scored two points, grabbed two rebounds and dished out an assist across nine minutes in a 109–104 win. On May 1, he logged a season-high 24 points in his third game with the Magic. Wagner knocked down a 3-pointer that tied the game at 109 with 1 minute and 16 seconds left to play, contributing to the Magic's 112–111 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. On August 23, 2021, he re-signed with Orlando. On December 29, 2022, Wagner was suspended by the NBA for two games without pay due to an altercation during a game against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

the day before.

National team career

Junior national team

Wagner won gold with the Germany U18 national team at the

2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B The 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B was an international basketball competition held in Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. ...

in Bulgaria. Averaging 16.1 points per contest, Wagner was Germany's leading scorer at the

2017 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The 2017 FIBA U20 European Championship was the 20th edition of the FIBA U20 European Championship. The competition took place in three Greek cities, Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion, on the island of Crete, from 15 to 23 July 2017. Venues Partic ...

Senior national team

Wagner helped Germany qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, where he earned the MVP award in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Split, Croatia. During the event in Tokyo, he averaged 11 points per game.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, 43 , , 5 , , 10.4 , , .415 , , .286 , , .811 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 43 , , 5 , , 18.6 , , .545 , , .313 , , .821 , , 4.9 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3, , style="text-align:left;",

, 25 , , 13 , , 15.0 , , .508 , , .310 , , .788 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .3 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 9 , , 1 , , 8.3 , , .286 , , .333 , , .500 , , 2.1 , , .7 , , .0 , , .1 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, 11 , , 10 , , 26.0 , , .409 , , .372 , , .879 , , 4.9 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .8 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 63 , , 3 , , 15.2 , , .497 , , .328 , , .806 , , 3.7 , , 1.4, , .3 , , .2 , , 9.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 196 , , 37 , , 15.1 , , .487 , , .321 , , .813 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .3 , , 7.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 8.6 , , .607 , , .167 , , .556 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , .2 , , .2 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 38 , , 38 , , 23.9 , , .560 , , .395 , , .726 , , 4.2 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 39 , , 39 , , 27.6 , , .528 , , .394 , , .694 , , 7.1 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 14.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 107 , , 77 , , 21.0 , , .547 , , .385 , , .698 , , 4.5 , , .5 , , .8 , , .4 , , 10.4

Personal life

Wagner has a younger brother

Franz Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see ...

who is his teammate on the Orlando Magic, and played basketball for

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Moritz 1997 births Living people Alba Berlin players Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Berlin Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) German expatriate basketball people in the United States German men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players National Basketball Association players from Germany Olympic basketball players of Germany Orlando Magic players Power forwards (basketball) South Bay Lakers players Washington Wizards players