jalen suggs

Josh Cohen

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2021 NBA Draft Photos: Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner

Dan Savage

ORLANDO -- After resetting their roster at the trade deadline and hiring a new head coach earlier this month, the Orlando Magic took the next step in laying the foundation for their future on Thursday.

The Magic utilized their two top 10 selections in a talented 2021 NBA Draft class to select Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs at No. 5 and then Michigan forward Franz Wagner at pick No. 8.

“It was a great night for the Magic,” said Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman. “We added two high character, team-oriented players, who we believe will grow very nicely into what we’re trying to build here. And it’s not often you get to add not one, but two of these guys on the same night.”

Suggs was considered by many to be a top three prospect when the draft process started, so his slide into the arms of the Magic at five was a welcomed sight for the franchise. Known as a tough competitor, Suggs led Gonzaga to a 31-1 record during his lone college season, with his team’s only loss coming to Baylor in the national championship game.

The Bulldogs were in that position in large part due to Suggs, who hit an iconic game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime against UCLA to send Gonzaga to the final game of the big dance. Now, he hopes to bring his competitive demeanor to Orlando and help build a winning culture.

“I’m more than ready, I’m so ready to get there; I’m ready to get on this flight right now and head out there and meet everybody and get into the gym,” Suggs said with a smile stretched across his face. “The sky is the limit for us, honestly. (The players on this team) all have so much room to grow and get better.”

In addition to his competitiveness, the Magic are getting an elite game manager, who also possesses tremendous explosiveness and ability to get to the rim. Suggs averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in his freshman campaign while shooting 50.3 percent from the floor and 33.7 percent from 3-point range.

“He’s a special talent, a special kid,” Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley explained. “We talked about those qualities. He has toughness, grit, defensive minded, (and) just not afraid of the moment. Those are things that these young NBA players, you’re looking for them to have that.”

While Mosley was talking about Suggs in that instance, many of those same qualities could be placed on the other top-10 talent the Magic acquired on draft night. With the eighth overall pick – acquired by Orlando from Chicago as part of the Nikola Vucevic trade – the Magic landed Wanger, who averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.25 steals and 1.04 blocks per game during his sophomore campaign with the Wolverines.

Wagner, who is the younger brother of current Magic player Moritz Wagner, has excellent court vision and is a tremendous playmaker on the offensive end, while displaying positional versatility on the defensive end of the floor.

“It’s hard to find guys like Franz,” Weltman explained. “I know he’s not a household name, but I can tell you, a lot of teams coveted him. I can tell you that we even got calls from teams behind us after we drafted him to inquire about whether we would move down for him. He is going to be kind of a unique player. He’s skilled, he’s smart, he’s very active without the ball, and for that profile in this league, he’s actually got pretty good size.”

Like Suggs, who was selected three picks before him, Wagner is eager to get to work in Orlando.

“There’s a lot of young talent on this team,” said Wagner of the Magic, which now has nine players under the age of 24 on their roster. “I hope I can be a part of us building something special in Orlando.”

Those two players get added to a young core of Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr., Markelle Fultz, R.J. Hampton, Jonathan Isaac and Chuma Okeke. Now, it will be up to Mosley and his staff to get develop that group and cultivate the talent.

“This group is going to continue to grow together,” Mosley explained. “When you have guards and bigs, these guys complement each other. ... They all believe in winning and I think each person, if you ask them, they just want to find ways to win and help each other be better.”

With two high-character, high-IQ playmakers added to the roster, the process of making other players on the roster better just got a little bit easier.

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Orlando Magic Emerge From 2021 NBA Draft with Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner

Jalen Suggs, selected fifth overall by the Orlando Magic, is an extremely athletic floor general with near-faultless game management skills and excellent vision. Shown during his one-and-done season at Gonzaga is that he’s unselfish and makes everyone around him better. Expect him to be electric in the open floor, crafty around the basket and tenacious on the defensive end as well.

Suggs has a variety of dimensions to his game, which makes it a little more difficult to link his skills directly to current or former NBA players. For example, he’s an elite game manager like Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups, but he also has a ton of zip and explosiveness similar to an Eric Bledsoe or even a Derrick Rose. There are also some Brandon Roy-traits within him when he operates in pick-and-roll (cerebral and methodical). Those are obviously ceiling-level comparisons. On a ground level, he reminds some of George Hill and Cory Joseph, but faster and with a much better vertical.

Basketball wasn’t the only sport he excelled at in high school. At Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, he was a high-level dual-threat quarterback, not a surprise when you watch him on the hardwood. In his one year with Gonzaga, which reached the national final, he played cool, calm and collected. He punished sleepy defenses with his hit-ahead passes, and in the pick-and-roll he was very cerebral, patient and meticulous. He averaged 4.5 assists in 2020-21, ranked third in the West Coast Conference.

One of the most athletic players in this draft, Suggs is blazing fast and a high flyer. Don’t be surprised if he participates, and even wins a slam dunk contest during NBA All-Star festivities. Not only does he jump out of the building, though. He is very acrobatic and does a good job contorting his body to avoid shot blockers, which is why he reminds some of Rose. With Suggs on board, the Magic should thrive in transition, which is arguably when he’s at his best.

At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, Suggs has good size for a point guard. More important, though, is that he plays a physical brand of basketball. Remember, he played quarterback in high school, so he’s accustomed to getting hit. Not only powerful and fast, he has nifty hands as well, often using in-and-out or hesitation dribbles to evade opponents off the dribble. Expectations are that Suggs will get to the free throw line a lot in the pros, even though he only averaged 3.8 foul shots per game in college.

Suggs is a tenacious, hard-nosed defender. In all facets – lateral quickness, ball pressure, closing out on shooters, fighting through screens, jumping passing lanes – he excels on that end of the floor. Important, too, is that he’s just as good defending twos as he is defending ones.

Suggs’ jumper – from all ranges – is erratic. He has sound form, but it just came and went at Gonzaga. He shot 33.7 percent from 3-point range on 104 attempts. There are also questions about his scoring arsenal. It’s unknown if he has an isolation game. He played alongside so many other good players in college that he never really had to create for himself or go to work on an island against an inferior opponent. Powerful and explosive, but does he have enough offensive creativity to take over games?

Suggs should be able to play the one or the two with the Magic. He can be a primary floor general or play off the ball and come off screens and dribble handoffs. A big storyline going forward is how he will mesh with Orlando’s three other young guards – Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and R.J. Hampton. All four excel at getting into the paint, which is key to increasing drive-and-kick opportunities.

In the WCC in 2020-21, he ranked seventh in points, seventh in rebounds, third in assists and first in steals. He also shot 50.3 percent from the field, the fourth best mark in the conference.

In the Final Four against UCLA after the Bruins’ Johnny Juzang tied the game with 3.3 seconds left, Suggs pushed the ball up the floor and banked in a game-winning, buzzer-beating triple from about 30 feet out to send Gonzaga to the title game.

“I think it shows at every level I have played at. My ability is to do whatever is needed on that night to win. Whether that’s play defense on the best offensive player and make him a non-factor. Shut him out of the game. To come out and score and make big shots in big moments. To facilitate and make my teammates better. And then again, the leadership never changes. That’s the same every night. My intensity and fire and passion that I come to the court with. I think everybody there is going to rally around it. Really gravitate towards it.” – Suggs

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Here’s What Jalen Suggs Will Bring to the Orlando Magic

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ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic have acquired a future second round draft pick (2026 via Detroit) and cash considerations from the L.A. Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to guard Jason Preston (33rd overall pick).

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Orlando Magic Acquire Future Second Round Draft Pick and Cash Considerations From L.A. Clippers

ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic have selected guard Jalen Suggs in the first round (fifth overall) and forward Franz Wagner (eighth overall) of the 2021 NBA Draft.

Suggs (6’4”, 205, 6/3/01) played and started in 30 games last season as a freshman at Gonzaga University, averaging 14.4 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 4.5 apg. and 1.90 stlpg. in 29.0 minpg., while shooting .503 (155-308) from the floor.

Suggs was a consensus All-America Second Team selection. He was named to the 2020-21 All-West Coast Conference First Team, the WCC Newcomer of the Year and the 2021 WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Suggs was also one of five finalists for the 2020-21 Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard, as well as one of five finalists for the 2020-21 USWBA National Freshman of the Year award. He led the Bulldogs to a 31-1 record, with their only loss coming to Baylor in the 2021 NCAA Championship game. Suggs hit a game-winning three-pointer as time expired on Apr. 3 vs. UCLA in the NCAA Final Four.

As a high school senior (2019-20) at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, MN, Suggs was named the National MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year. He was selected to participate in the 2020 McDonald’s All-American Game and was one of five finalists for the Naismith High School Boys National Player of the Year. During his high school career, Minnehaha went 111-15 (.881) and won three straight 2A state titles. Suggs was the first athlete in Minnesota history to be named the state’s Mr. Basketball and Mr. Football in the same year.

Wagner (6’9”, 225, 8/27/01) played and started in all 28 games last season as a sophomore at the University of Michigan, averaging 12.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 3.0 apg., 1.25 stlpg. and 1.04 blkpg. in 31.7 minpg., while shooting .835 (66-79) from the free throw line. He ranked in the top three on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals (led the team) and blocks. Wagner was named to the 2020-21 All-Big Ten Second Team by the coaches and Third Team by the media, helping the Wolverines reach the Elite Eight at the NCAA Tournament. He was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Jerry West Award, given to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Wagner played and started in 55 career games during two seasons (2019-21) at Michigan, averaging 12.0 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 2.0 apg. and 1.25 stlpg. in 31.2 minpg., while shooting .835 (111-133) from the free throw line. As a freshman (2019-20), he played and started in 27 games, averaging 11.6 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.26 stlpg. in 30.7 minpg. Wagner was named to the 2019-20 Big Ten All-Freshman Team and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times.

During the 2018-19 campaign, Wagner played on a dual contract with Alba Berlin (BBL) and SSV Iok Bernau in Germany. He was named the 2018-19 BBL Best Young Player, which goes to the league’s most valuable player who is under age 22 and has German nationality.

He is the brother of current Magic player Moritz Wagner.

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Orlando Magic Select Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner in First Round of 2021 NBA Draft

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