The end of Wagner - on separate paths into the new NBA

The End of the Wagners - on Separate Paths in the New NBA Season October 20, 2026 When Franz Wagner joined the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2021 and started his NBA career there, his older brother Moritz was already there. Franz, who is four years younger, was selected as the eighth pick in the draft by the Magic, who had already signed Moritz a few months earlier. Not only through their shared appearances in the NBA have the "Wagners" since then developed into a kind of brand in basketball. In recent years, they celebrated successes with the German national team, became Basketball World Champions in 2023, and followed one year later to the Olympic Games in Paris. In 2025, Franz also won the European Championship, while Moritz had to watch as a TV expert while injured. Last autumn, the NBA also featured a game in Berlin for the Wagner brothers for the first time. Moritz is successful as a podcast host and often has his brother as a guest there. Both have their own Instagram accounts with around 300,000 followers each. In 2024, the German television broadcaster ZDF released the four-part TV documentary "The Wagner Brothers" about the story of the two brothers, their lives as basketball stars, and their close relationship with each other. Moritz Wagner in Brooklyn: "We just stay at home" But the shared times are over since this summer. Since Moritz did not receive a new contract in Orlando, he accepted an offer from the Brooklyn Nets and moved team and residence. He now lives with his girlfriend Maggie McQuade, who works in NBA marketing, in New York. "I have spent a lot of time in New York. It's like my home in America," Wagner said in his podcast "Can't You Say That". It reminds him where he comes from. "Brooklyn is, in terms of the USA, already very close to Berlin." The Nets' call was therefore a kind of happy coincidence for Wagner and his girlfriend. "When we hung up the phone and both agreed, we both cried. Because you kind of realize: It feels right somehow," Wagner told. "We just stay at home." The Nets are assessed as one of the weaker teams before the upcoming season. The Wagners' task will be to give the team stability with their experience and to guide the young players. Franz as the Face of the Rebuilding in Orlando Franz, equipped with a mega-contract that runs until 2030 and brings him a total of 224 million US dollars, remains in Orlando. Alongside the slightly better-paid Paolo Banchero, he is one of the two stars on the team. The Magic have signed a new coach, Sean Sweeney, for the new season and hope that it will finally go beyond the first playoff round. Success should bring faster basketball than he played in Orlando in recent years. Franz Wagner takes on the role of the playmaker in the new system more strongly than before, bringing the ball forward, creating actions himself, and drawing to the basket with pace - more so than he does with the national team. "We want to play hard, act as a team, play at a fast pace, and just have fun playing together. Playing like this is always fun," Wagner said after one of the practice games. "This creates a little more space for our guys to get in the zone and create actions for themselves or for others." However, he now has to manage without his older brother. "I think we are both a little sad that his time here has ended," Franz Wagner said in an interview with the web portal Clutchpoints. "At the same time, we are both very grateful for the time we had. Playing with a sibling in the NBA for so many years is something very special. That's why we are just grateful for it." Hartenstein, Schröder and Co. - eight Germans in the NBA Since the shared era of the Wagners in Orlando is history, German basketball fans may need to reorient themselves a little in the upcoming season. While during the time of the German basketball icon Dirk Nowitzki many Germans became fans of the Dallas Mavericks and in recent years interest in the Orlando Magic was particularly high, it is likely to be distributed a little in the coming season. In total, eight Germans are under contract with the 30 NBA clubs. - Franz Wagner, Tristan da Silva (Orlando Magic) - Moritz Wagner (Brooklyn Nets) - Isaiah Hartenstein (Oklahoma City Thunder) - Ariel Hukporti (Philadelphia 76ers) - Dennis Schröder, Hannes Steinbach, Christian Anderson Jr. (Charlotte Hornets) While Hartenstein, who won the NBA championship with OKC in 2024, still has a chance for another title, Hukporti can only watch if his new team is successful. The center moved from the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks to Philadelphia in the summer, but tore his Achilles tendon in the first practice game and will be out for the entire season. The Sixers have signed NBA legend LeBron James and are considered one of the title contenders. Maxi Kleber, a reliable bench player for the past nine years, did not receive a new contract from the Los Angeles Lakers and is currently looking for a new team - in the NBA or Europe. Charlotte Hornets as the new "German NBA Club" Something like the new "German NBA Club" could be the Charlotte Hornets. The German national team captain Dennis Schröder was traded there. For the basketball vagabond, the Hornets are already in their 14th year of his NBA career at twelve different clubs. Alongside him, two German rookies will play with Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. The two newcomers know each other from the German U19 national team, with whom they won the silver medal at the 2025 World Cup. With Schröder, they have an experienced mentor by their side in their first steps in the NBA. "I am a veteran, 14 years in the league now, I even have the most years on the team, and I am naturally trying to accompany the two young men through their rookie season and make it as easy as possible for them," Schröder recently said in a TV interview with the broadcaster RTL/Sky Sport. "It is very cool to have someone here. Dennis already has many games in the NBA," Steinbach said. "You have someone you can talk to in German who gives you some tips on what he sees in the game." The Hornets want to make it to the playoffs at the end of the season. Since they play in the Eastern Conference of the NBA like Brooklyn and Orlando, there will be numerous duels with the other Germans on the way there.