What should the Orlando Magic do with Jonathan Isaac?

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – AUGUST 02: Jonathan Isaac #1 of the Orlando Magic (L) kneels with teammates during the national anthem before a NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings at HP Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 2, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images)

In amongst all of the other storylines currently dominating the NBA landscape, the Orlando Magic snuck one of their own into the atmosphere earlier this week. In it, they confirmed that forward Jonathan Isaac would not return to action this season, as he continues his recovery from an ACL tear.

On the one hand, the Magic only have 11 remaining games, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. They also have the worst record in the Eastern Conference and look set to have some of the best odds to nab the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

Due to all of this, the Isaac news shouldn’t really be a concern at this point. Only after two full seasons missed thanks to an injury that is taking others under a year to come back from, it should have alarm bells ringing hard.

What should the Orlando Magic do with Jonathan Isaac?

Would you care to guess the career averages of Isaac to this point? How about the number of games played since being drafted sixth overall in 2017? Even how old he is now? In order then.

Jonathan Isaac has averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds, and as a potential stretch, he big has shot 33 percent from deep. He has never had the kind of long-term impact on the defensive end the franchise badly needs.

Isaac has appeared in 136 regular-season games and one playoff series against the Toronto Raptors. This occurred back in 2019. In that series, he averaged 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 27.3 minutes of action a night. Isaac is 24 years old. Two years older than Jordan Poole, the same age as Jayson Tatum, and just shy of one year younger than Devin Booker.

How much did that information surprise or hurt you? Depending on your affinity to the Magic, it will have varied from mild surprise to complete and utter horror.

Since being drafted, Isaac has always looked a much better prospect than Mohamed Bamba, the center taken one year after him by the Orlando Magic with the same sixth pick that they used on Isaac.

To Bamba’s credit, despite a leg fracture and a frustratingly inconsistent game, he has at least done his best to try and improve. And more crucially, he’s been able to stay on the court as much as possible.

By the time Isaac comes back next season (hopefully), Russell Westbrook could be on his fourth team since the last time Isaac played if he leaves the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. That is stunning.

Isaac suffered the torn ACL (August 8th, 2020) before teammate Markelle Fultz (January 6th, 2021). Only Fultz has already come back, and looks like he can be a long-term piece for the group as they continue to build something promising. Can we say the same about Isaac anymore? Does he figure into the future of this franchise?

He was given a four-year, $80 million deal while injured. He hasn’t played since and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. It was a gamble predicated on the fact that he had looked potentially franchise-altering defensively when available (and because the Magic hadn’t drafted Franz Wagner, Cole Anthony or Jalen Suggs at that point).

Wendell Carter Jr. wasn’t on the roster either, and it is fair to say the team has gone through a major overhaul since Isaac last played. When you factor in another incoming lottery pick, it feels like where Isaac slides into this group is in a position that no longer exists for him. Wagner looks like the potential star and Carter Jr. has had an extremely positive season.

On top of all of this is the layer of Isaac that many try to stay away from. His opinions on the COVID-19 vaccine and his choice not to take a knee when so many of his fellow players did were polarizing, to say the least. While Isaac shouldn’t be judged on this, we are all entitled to our own opinions, you get the sense it will be an unwelcome distraction when he is put in front of media again.

In defense of Isaac, his teammates have always appeared to like having him around, if their social media accounts are anything to go by. Team chemistry is a mercurial and delicate area of a group’s growth, however, and there is no telling what future controversies or newsworthy events Isaac will vocally take a stand on.

This begs the question, could the Magic trade him? Should they? If you look at the returns so far and what they’re paying him then yeah, why the hell not? The organization has plenty of other directions they can go without Isaac and they all seem exciting. What they would get for him is another matter entirely, and it probably isn’t enough at this point to seriously consider a deal.

The injuries, his desire to speak out, and the simple fact that this is all bad timing mean that Jonathan Isaac will continue to remain the most confusing aspect of where the Orlando Magic are going.

Does even his staunchest fan think he can be a key pillar on a future playoff outfit? Looking at the evidence to this point, that doesn’t seem likely. This makes answering the question of what to do with him a very hard one.