Moritz Wagner (basketball)

Moritz Wagner
No. 15 Los Angeles Lakers
Position Power forward / Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1997-04-26) April 26, 1997
Berlin, Germany
Nationality German
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College Michigan (2015–2018)
NBA draft 2018 / Round: 1 / Pick: 25th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career 2014–2015
2018–present
Career history
2014–2015 Alba Berlin
2018–present Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Victor Moritz "Moe" Wagner (born April 26, 1997) is a German professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for University of Michigan from 2015 through his junior season for the 2017–18 Wolverines team. The forward entered his name for the 2017 NBA draft 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 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 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 basketball team and played professionally in the Basketball Bundesliga.

Youth career

Alba Berlin (2014–2015)

Wagner in the paint for the 2016–17 Michigan Wolverines

Wagner started his basketball career in the youth ranks of Alba Berlin. In the 2011–12 season, he made his first appearance on the club’s under-16 Bundesliga team and emerged into a key player on the team the following season.[1]

In 2013–14, Wagner gained his first experiences at the senior level, playing for Berlin’s second team in the Regionalliga, the fourth-tier of German basketball,[2] while also competing for the club’s under-19 Bundesliga squad,[3] helping the team capture the German championship.[4]

In 2014–15, he landed a spot on Berlin’s Bundesliga roster and made his debut in the German top-flight on October 2, 2014, scoring six points in 6 minutes and 15 seconds of play against BG Göttingen.[5] He also saw (little) playing time in the EuroLeague.[6]

College career

The first college basketball game that Wagner ever saw was the April 8, 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game in which Louisville defeated the 2012–13 Wolverines.[7] He downloaded the game and watched it on an iPad.[8] Wagner then saw the 2013–14 Wolverines lose in the elite eight round of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament to Kentucky with his father, Axel.[7] The hysteria of March Madness and college basketball caught his attention and interest.[7]

Wagner first came to the attention of University of Michigan head coach John Beilein in 2014 through an email from a former coaching acquaintance in Germany. By one account, after watching a video of Wagner, Beilein called former Alba Berlin player Johannes Herber, who Beilein had coached for four years at West Virginia University (WVU). In a 2018 interview, Herber recalled that during their conversation, he brought up the similarity between Wagner's playing style and that of one of Herber's former WVU teammates, noting "I knew from the way coach used Kevin [Pittsnogle] that Moe could be a good fit in that offense."[9] By another account, Wagner used social contacts to forward a self-made highlight video to Beilein, which Beilein replied to. However, Beilein's reply sat in Wagner's spam folder for two weeks until Beilein made contact with Wagner by a personal visit to Germany.[7]

Shortly after Beilein's conversation with Herber, he began his recruitment of Wagner with phone calls. He recalled in 2018, "So I just said, you know what? We can't like sit on this. I think this kid is going to be pretty good, but nobody's been over to see him." Beilein followed through on this with a flight to Berlin to meet with Wagner and his family, in which he tried to convince them the advantages of American college basketball over a European professional contract. During the process, Wagner also reached out to Herber, with Herber recalling, "He was just curious. It's easy to fall in love watching college basketball on TV and want to be here. And the good thing about Moe is that he was very confident about his ability."[9]

Freshman season

Wagner announced his decision to play at Michigan for the 2015–16 season in April 2015.[10] By opting to go to college, he turned down an offer to play professionally.[11] On March 16 in the First Four round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan defeated Tulsa, 67–62. After blocking two shots all season, Wagner posted four blocks and had a season-high eight rebounds against Tulsa.[12][13] He finished his freshman year with per game averages of 8.6 minutes, 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds.[14]

Sophomore season

Wagner was one of two Big Ten athletes (along with Caleb Swanigan) named to the February 9 2016-17 NCAA Division I Academic All-District Men’s Basketball Team for District 5 (IL, IN, MI, OH), placing them among the 40 finalists for the Academic All-American 15-man team.[15] On February 12, Wagner posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Indiana, helping Michigan to its first road win.[16][17] On February 16 against (#11/#10)[18] Wisconsin, Wagner helped Michigan achieve its first win over a ranked opponent by posting his third 20-point performance of the season.[19] Following the season, he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media.[20][21] Wagner's five steals in the March 9 2017 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament opener against Illinois was a single-game high for the tournament.[22] Three days later, Michigan won its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 1998.[23] On March 19, Wagner's career-high 26 points helped Michigan defeat Louisville 73–69 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.[24][25] 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.[26] He finished the season as the team's leading rebounder.[27]

On April 10, 2017, both Wagner and teammate D. J. Wilson declared for the 2017 NBA draft, but did not hire agents, which gave them until May 24 to withdraw their names and retain their athletic eligibility to return to Michigan.[28] Declaring early enabled him to seek advice from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee by the April 14 application deadline, participate in workouts with NBA teams beginning April 25 and made him eligible for an invitation to the May 9–14 NBA Draft Combine.[29] 57 of the 78 players who declared for the 2016 NBA draft without hiring an agent withdrew their names.[30] On April 30, 2017, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported that he was invited to the NBA Draft Combine.[31] Of the 66 players who submitted to physical measurement, Wagner tied with Harry Giles for the longest handlength at 10.75 inches (27.3 cm).[32] On May 24, 2017, he decided to pull out of the 2017 draft and return to Michigan for the 2017-18 season.[33]

Junior season

Wagner was selected to the 2017 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team.[34] He was also one of two Big Ten players named to the 21-man Karl Malone Award watch list.[35] He was a preseason John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist honoree.[36][37] After posting one double-double in his first two seasons, Wagner began the 2017–18 season with a pair of double-doubles against North Florida and Central Michigan.[38][39][40] On November 26, Wagner's 21 points and 10 rebounds complemented Charles Matthews' 17 points and 12 assists against UC Riverside giving Michigan its first pair of double-doubles in a game since Glenn Robinson III and Trey Burke did so for the 2012–13 National Runner-up Wolverines on January 6, 2013.[41][42] Michigan defeat Texas 59–52 on December 12, but Wagner injured his ankle with 7 minutes and 32 seconds remaining.[43][44] After missing two games, Wagner returned to the lineup on December 30 when Michigan defeated Jacksonville.[45][46] On January 13, 2018, Wagner scored a career-high 27 points as Michigan defeated the fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans 82–72 in East Lansing; 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.[47][48] 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 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) or taller and was a second team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and the media.[49][50]

On March 2, Michigan defeated Nebraska 77–58 in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. 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.[51][52][53] The following day, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament Wagner scored his 1,000th career point in the second half of the game, 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.[54][55][56] 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.[57][58] In the 2018 tournament, Wagner averaged 15.8 points per game, 6.5 rebounds and his 13-rebound performance stood up as a tournament high.[59]

Wagner, who averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in the first four games of the 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament,[60] was joined by Wolverines teammates Matthews and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman on the West Region All-tournament team.[61] On March 31, Michigan defeated Loyola–Chicago 6957 in the national semifinals. 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.[62][63] On April 2, Michigan lost to (#2 Coaches Poll/#2 AP Poll) Villanova 6279 in the National Championship Game. Wagner recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, and was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.[64][65] 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.[66]

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.[67] On March 21, Wagner became an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.[68] On April 14, 2018, Wagner announced that he would enter the 2018 NBA draft and hire an agent.[69][70] On May 1, Wagner signed with Roc Nation's Joe Branch, who has represented former Michigan teammate Caris LeVert.[71] Later that day, he received an invitation to the NBA Draft combine.[72]

Professional career

Los Angeles Lakers (2018–present)

On June 21, 2018, Wagner was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.[73] On July 1, 2018, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Lakers.[74]

National team career

Wagner won gold with the German national team at the 2014 under-18 European Championship (Division B) in Bulgaria.[75] Averaging 16.1 points per contest, Wagner was Germany's leading scorer at the 2017 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.[76]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 Michigan 3008.6.607.167.5561.6.1.2.22.9
2016–17 Michigan 383823.9.560.395.7264.2.51.0.412.1
2017–18 Michigan 393927.6.528.394.6947.1.81.0.514.6
Career 1077721.0.547.385.6984.5.5.8.410.4

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