Orlando Magic: 2018-19 player grade for Jonathan Isaac

Jonathan Isaac was another positive for the Orlando Magic as they cemented themselves as one of the surprise packages of the 2018-19 season.

The 2018-19 season was an impressive one for the Orlando Magic, as they posted a 42-40 regular-season record and made it back to the postseason for the first time in seven seasons.

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On the surface, Jonathan Isaac didn’t have a massive hand in this happening, his basic numbers an improvement on his rookie season, but pedestrian nonetheless.

Isaac’s second campaign wasn’t about showing out though, the most important thing for him was finding some kind of consistency. Injury curtailed his rookie season, as he appeared in only 27 games, starting 10.

So to see his final tally for year two, not including a valuable foray into the playoffs, at 75 games (64 starts) was hugely encouraging in itself.

Within that Isaac began to really find his feet at the turn of the year, coming alive to play his best basketball in 2019.

He was more integral than most in the Magic finishing the season ranked 8th in defensive rating (107.6), and it feels like that end will be where he can be an absolute difference-maker in future.

Offensively there is clearly work to do, but to see Isaac grow more comfortable when his number was called as the year went on was another promising sign.

Only 21, his blossoming partnership with Aaron Gordon, which did not look like it could happen when Frank Vogel was head coach, looks to be at the core of how the magic will improve in future.

Now a presumed starter for the Magic and a key piece of how they operate defensively, it is about filling out the other aspects of his game that still have plenty of room to grow. An invitation to Team USA training camp during the offseason will only have helped as well.

Strengths

The aforementioned defensively play is where we have to begin, and the Orlando Magic were actually even better defensively (107.3) when Jonathan Isaac was on the court.

His long frame and quick feet mean he can alter all manner of shots around the paint, but looked comfortable closer to the 3-point line as well.

Next to a much more offensively gifted player like Nikola Vucevic, who was the driving force for the Magic in their run to the playoffs, Isaac was able highlight his importance by picking up assignments that Vucevic himself would have had trouble with.

What will be fascinating to watch as time goes on is how good Isaac and Mohamed Bamba can be on the court together. Bamba’s rookie season echoed that of Isaac, as a stress fracture forced him out of action in early February. In all Bamba only played in 47 games himself, starting just once.

In order for that tandem to work however, Isaac will have to be the one who takes more of a leap offensively. We saw flashes of this, Isaac attempting 3.5 3-pointers per game, way up on the 1.7 he took as a rookie.

Isaac looked more comfortable stepping into that shot, and it gave his game more of a burgeoning two-way feel which would be massive for the Magic to get consistently.

February was where Isaac was at his best, putting up season highs per month in scoring (13.7 points per game). The 5.7 rebounds he averaged that month were up slightly on his season average as well (5.5).

Potentially his biggest strength, however? That by season’s end he didn’t look like a rookie who was trying to figure out the league and his place on the team. Rather he was contributing in a meaningful way and was one of their better players on the run to the postseason.

Weaknesses

It would be unfair to talk too much about Jonathan Isaac’s poor showing in the playoffs. Everybody bar Aaron Gordon was also guilty of this and the whole point of the experience was so guys like Isaac could learn from it.

Still, his averages or 6.6 points and 17.4 percent from deep are his to own.

Offensive consistency is really where Isaac needs to improve, and the 32.3 percent he shot from deep during the regular season was a reflection of him doubling how many shots from deep he took per game. It was also a poor return, down even on his rookie season (34.8 percent).

The Orlando Magic were below average offensively as a team (22nd, 108.2) and when Isaac was on the court, that number remained the exact same. In one aspect that is a positive, Isaac wasn’t a clear negative for the Magic when he was on the court.

That being said, he wasn’t bringing a lot to the table either, the 9.6 points he averaged per contest a low return.

He scored only 20 points or over once (20 in a win versus the New Orleans Pelicans), and he will have to have a bigger impact offensively as his time in Orlando continues if he is to take the next step.

Playing in the post and around the basket is becoming a more foreign concept for big men these days, but Isaac could still do with adding more of this to his game.

His slender frame made it difficult to hang with stronger players inside last season, and offensively he wasn’t taking the ball in there a ton either. Stretching the floor is still what he should be doing, which makes improving his below average 3-point shot the priority.

But packing on some muscle (which some offseason photos would have you believe Isaac has done), and adding some post scoring to him game would be huge for his development.

Highlights

If staying on the court and gaining some consistency counts as a highlight over the course of a whole season, then it should come straight in at the top of the list. Jonathan Isaac did some legitimate growing in year two and actually playing helped him a lot.

He also went from averaging 19.9 minutes as a rookie to 26.6 last season.

Really though that February run was a highlight in itself, when Isaac’s heightened abilities were on show for a couple of weeks. He scored in double-digits in nine of the 11 games that month, which included his already mentioned season-high against the Pelicans.

The game before he was at his balanced best as well, chipping in with 17 points, three rebounds and a notable five blocks in a win.

The Orlando Magic only lost three times in February as well and while Mohamed Bamba going down and Khem Birch stepping into the rotation surely played a part, it is no coincidence that the best run of Isaac’s young career translated to a run of wins for the organization.

They beat the Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks during this period, Isaac scoring in double-digits in these three games as well as he averaged 29.1 minutes on the court in the month of February.

Two of their three losses came to the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks, however, once again illustrating the inconsistency that played a large part of their season.

Isaac also shot 38.5 percent from deep during this period while also locking opponents down defensively, as he looked to put it all together.

Final grade

Realistically, this season went about as well as it could have for Jonathan Isaac. He stayed on the court, he started a lot of games and he found his role within the team.

His chemistry with Aaron Gordon improved to the point where moving one of them was no longer talked about, and defensively he was at his most impressive.

He is still so young, and it looks like he is ready to take the next step for the Orlando Magic. So much so, that he is getting quite a bit of offseason buzz, with Zach Lowe going so far as to say he is now “one of the swing players in the league.”

The Magic needed a lottery pick to look like they could really work out, and Isaac showed that in 2018-19.

The next part is figuring out how to be even better while opponents key in on you more, the Magic aren’t going to catch as many teams out next season. But they look to have found a real cornerstone in Isaac, somebody who fits the mold for the way the game is played today.

He may yet turn into a more complete two-way player, and it is fair to say that as of now his offensive game still needs considerable work.

But getting an invite to Team USA camp means you have done something right, especially when Aaron Gordon, thought of highly himself around the league, doesn’t get asked along himself.

Isaac is ingraining himself deeper into the identity of the Magic, but his basic numbers and even his advanced numbers do need to improve.

A Player Efficiency Rating of 13 (league average is 15) is poor and looks even worse compared to that of somebody like Nikola Vucevic, who posted a 25.5.

It is now about starting to turn exciting potential into tangible improvement, something which Gordon struggled himself to do until last season.

Really though there was a lot to like about Isaac’s campaign, as he was a contributor on an organization that went to the playoffs. You couldn’t ask for much more of somebody in their second year and it only figures to get better from here on out.

Grade: B-