The time has come again – this week the NBA Draft 2018 will take place (Friday, 1 am live on DAZN). Two German players also have a good chance of being penalized. But what can Moritz Wagner and Isaac Bonga do? SPOX introduces both and risks a forecast.
Position: Forward/Center / College: Michigan
Age: 21 / Height: 2.11 meters / Wingspan: 2.13 meters / Weight: 111 kilos
Ideally a guy like: Mehmet Okur, Ryan Anderson
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Moritz Wagner had already thought of jumping into the NBA in 2017, but instead he decided for another season in Michigan and used it quite ideally: In the NCAA Tournament a real hype arose around the native Berliner, when he led the Wolverines as the best player into the Championship Game, where then, however, against the Villanova Wildcats final station was.
Wagner rose in this phase in some mock drafts even into the early 20s, because especially his offensive versatility and maturity impressed many spectators. The Big Man has not only a strong throw from the catch-and-shoot, he can also generate himself from the dribbling possibilities and has some good movements in the low post in his repertoire. Wagner rarely loses the ball and has a good understanding of the game.
After the end of the college season, however, Wagner has fallen a long way behind in most mocks and is now mostly led between the beginning and middle of the second round, which seems a lot more realistic.
For all the positive qualities of his game, it is not quite clear how well he can transfer them to the NBA level. Especially offensively he often used his physical advantages in the NCAA, but he will rarely have these in the NBA. It is also not a very good register, which is why it could well be that it will be “reduced” to a relatively one-dimensional shooter in the NBA if it does not make significant progress here.
Nevertheless, the offense is not the problem – even if he should “only” be a shooter, there is always a place for Stretch-Bigs from the bank in the league. The biggest question mark and ultimately also the point that will decisively influence his role in the NBA is Wagner’s defense.
The 21-year-old is a very intelligent team defender, but he is noticeably lacking in lateral speed and so it can be problematic for him, especially after switches. Despite its size, it is not yet suitable as a ring protector, since it is often one step too late from the Helpside and hardly blocks throws. Instead, he has to commit a relatively frequent foul. Here the rather average athleticism often becomes his downfall.
Wagner also has his deficiencies as a rebounder, especially when it comes to physically strong opponents, although he has clearly improved in this respect in his third college season.
The word “increase” is important with regard to Wagner’s draft chances: in drafting, potential has been the most important criterion for years, according to which young, raw players are normally drawn higher than older and relatively “finished” players such as Wagner, who at 21 years of age is already one of the older players available this year. Of course, he can and will still improve, but his upside is limited compared to other players.
Especially for teams that don’t want to rebuild for years and attack instead, Wagner can be interesting because of his age and maturity – he probably won’t need a lot of time to get used to the league and could find a role as Stretch-Big from the bank relatively quickly. Whether more will be possible will be determined above all by his progress in defense.
Forecast: middle of 2nd round
Possible teams: Magic, Hawks, Sixers, Knicks
Page 1: Moritz Wagner – Strengths and weaknesses of the college star
Page 2: Isaac Bonga – Rough Diamond and “the Future of German Basketball