Wagner brothers begin new NBA chapter on different paths

After five years, brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner are no longer playing together for the Orlando Magic. In the new NBA season, their separation will likely mean the new "German" team is the Charlotte Hornets.

In 2021, when Franz Wagner joined the Orlando Magic to start his NBA career, his older brother Moritz was already on the team. Franz, who is four years younger, was selected eighth overall in the draft by the team who had signed Moritz a few months earlier.

It's not just their joint appearances in the NBA that have since turned the "Wagners" into something of a brand in basketball. Just last year, the NBA had a regular-season game in Berlin, partly because of the Wagner brothers.

Moritz is a successful podcast host and often has his brother on the show. Both have their own Instagram accounts, each with around 300,000 followers. In 2024, the German public broadcaster ZDF aired a four-part TV documentary about the brothers, chronicling their basketball history and close relationship.

In recent years, they've also celebrated success with the German national team. In 2023, they became world champions together and were then at the Olympic Games in Paris a year later. In 2025, Franz also won the European Championship title, while Moritz, sidelined by injury, watched on as a TV analyst.

This summer, their time together came to an end. After Moritz wasn't offered a new contract in Orlando, he accepted an offer from the Brooklyn Nets. He now lives in New York with his girlfriend, Maggie McQuade, who works in marketing for the NBA.

"I've already spent a lot of time in New York. It's kind of like my home in America," Wagner said on his podcast, adding that it reminds him of where he's from. "As far as the US goes, Brooklyn is actually very close to Berlin."

The call from the Nets proved a stroke of luck. "When we hung up the phone and both agreed, we both cried. Because you kind of realize that this move feels right somehow," Wagner said. "We're just staying home."

The Nets are considered one of the weaker teams heading into the upcoming season, leaving Wagner a key force in providing stability and helping to develop younger players.

Franz is staying in Orlando. Alongside Paolo Banchero, Franz is one of the team's two stars. The 25-year-old is on a massive contract that runs through 2030 and will earn him a reported total of $224 million (€199 million).

With Sean Sweeney hired as their new head coach for the upcoming season, the Magic are hoping to finally advance past the first round of the playoffs, having lost at that stage in each of the last three seasons.

Success is expected to come from a faster style of basketball than has been played in Orlando in recent years. In the new system, Franz Wagner will take on the role of point guard more prominently than before — moving the ball up the court, creating his own shots, and driving to the basket with speed — much like he does for Germany.

"We want to play tough, play together, play it fast and enjoy playing together," Wagner said during a preseason interview. "We got a little bit more space for our guys, to get in the paint and make plays, for themselves and for others."

However, he now has to manage without his older brother.

"I think we're both a little sad his time here has come to an end," Franz Wagner said in an interview with sports news site ClutchPoints. "I think, though, we're both really grateful for the time we had [together]. To play with a sibling in the NBA for so many years is super special. So we're just grateful for that."

Now that the Wagners’ time together in Orlando is history, German basketball fans may have to adjust their allegiances a bit for the upcoming season.

While many Germans became fans of the Dallas Mavericks during the era of German basketball icon Dirk Nowitzki, and interest in the Orlando Magic has been particularly high in recent years, that interest may spread in the coming season. A total of eight Germans are under contract on an NBA team for the 2026/27 season:

While Hartenstein, who won the NBA championship with the Thunder in 2025, has another shot at the title, Hukporti, now in Philadelphia, tore his Achilles tendon in the first preseason 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 a free agent.

The Charlotte Hornets could then become Germany's new favorite NBA team, with Germany captain and NBA nomad Dennis Schröder now on the roster. In his 14th year in the NBA, the Hornets are already his 12th different team.

Playing alongside him will be two German rookies, highly-touted Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr. The two newcomers know each other from the German U19 national team, with which they won the silver medal at the 2025 World Championship.

"I'm a veteran — I've been in the league for 14 years now, I've actually been with the team the longest — and of course I'm trying to guide these two young guys through their rookie season and make it as easy as possible for them,” Schröder recently said in an interview with RTL/Sky Sport.

"It's really cool to have someone like that here. Dennis, of course, has already played a lot of games in the NBA," Steinbach said. "You have someone there you can speak German with, who gives you a few tips based on what he sees during the game."

The Hornets are aiming to make the playoffs at the end of the season. Since they play in the Eastern Conference, just like Brooklyn and Orlando, there will be plenty of matchups against the other German players along the way.

This article was originally written in German.