Orlando Magic: Jonathan Isaac’s ACL tear a sickening blow

Could this have been avoided?

Nobody wants to say I told you so, especially when it comes to the health of a player but, well, we did say last week that this could happen. Bringing Isaac back in the bubble, despite his continued desire to play, was always going to be a risk, and for what? To maybe move up into the seventh seed and a rematch with the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs?

As fun as that would be to see, and it still looks on course to happen, can you really be honest with yourself and say the Magic had a shot in that series? Taking them to six games would be seen as a success, and it also means avoiding the Milwaukee Bucks in round one and not getting swept by one of the best teams in basketball.

But if Isaac was brought back in order to help this happen, and that has to have been behind some of the thinking here, such is his impact defensively, can you say that it was worth it now? Isaac looked amazing to close out scrimmage play in a win over the Denver Nuggets, and versus the Brooklyn Nets in the Magic’s first seeding game he was at his disruptive best defensively too.

Now he’s gone until well into next season, and the question marks surrounding this franchise have returned with a bang. Continuity and knowing what young players they had to build around, namely Isaac, Markelle Fultz and Aaron Gordon, were the real selling point for the Magic. Especially if they hoped to snag a veteran or two to join the cause down the line.

But because of this the Magic will now have to lean into the present even more, which on the surface appears fine because of how well Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross and Evan Fournier (sometimes) have led this team in pursuit of the playoffs. But they won’t be around forever, and they certainly aren’t the answer to turning into a contending outfit.