2019 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Isaiah Briscoe

Isaiah Briscoe had to go overseas to improve his game and regain entry to the NBA. He impressed along the way and now finds himself with an opportunity.

No one would be offended if you said you had not heard of Isaiah Briscoe. He is a bit of a deep dive into the NBA talent pool. A real deep dive.

He was playing in an obscure league in an obscure country. It seemed like he was far off NBA radars.

Of course, Briscoe was on the cusp of making the NBA last year as one of the final cuts for the Portland Trail Blazers. The extremely talented guard has struggled to find his opportunity at every level. But at every level, his talent keeps shining through.

The Orlando Magic signing him to a full contract just before Summer League started was a bit of a surprise. Most of all because no one seemed to know who he was unless they happened to be Kentucky Wildcats fans. But Briscoe has likely changed a lot since he left Lexington to being with.

It helped that Briscoe looked solid in his short Summer League run — an injury shut him down in the third game, but he had already proven himself and signed a new contract. He figures to be a fixture in the Magic’s point guard rotation with the position so far up in the air.

It is best to look at Briscoe’s development in progress.

Most American probably recognize him from his time with Kentucky where he averaged 12.1 points per game as a sophomore, shooting 47.0 percent from the floor and a 49.4 percent effective field goal percentage.

That disparity between field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage should be a clue to why questions remained about the 6-foot-3 guard when he entered the Draft.

Briscoe struggled as a shooter. He was adept at the ball and driving to the basket, but also a bit wild. Despite his driving and scoring ability, he averaged 4.2 assists per game. He was an unnatural point guard, playing alongside Tyler Ulis and De’Aaron Fox in his two years in school. Briscoe is a more natural scoring guard than playmaker.

It was not a surprise he went undrafted as an undersized scorer without a prodigious shooting ability. His task the last year was to show he could hit shots more consistently.

Without a NBA home, Briscoe went abroad to find opportunity. He ended up in Estonia, of all places, playing in the Russian league. That is hardly a bastion of basketball talent.

Briscoe showed plenty of promising signs for BC Kalev.

He was a league All-Star averaging 18.5 points per game and shooting 48.7 percent from the floor with a 52.8 percent effective field goal percentage. That differential is much better thanks to Briscoe shooting 39.0 percent from beyond the arc — not to mention being more willing to shoot from the outside with 3.0 3-point attempts per game last year as opposed to his 1.6 attempts per game in his last year at Kentucky.

Briscoe still averaged around four assists per game. His scoring instinct still takes primacy in his style of play. For a player coming off the bench, that is plenty fine. Briscoe is intriguing enough and borderline enough to give an opportunity.

That was the opportunity the Magic gave him through their free agent mini-camp ahead of Summer League before signing him and then saw from him in his short run at Summer League.

Briscoe did not get to play very much thanks to an injury in the second game. But he made 50 percent of his shots and averaged 8.7 points per game in 19.0 minutes per game across three games. He left that third game with an injury. But the Magic saw plenty.

Briscoe was indeed as advertised. He was a hard driver who could get into the lane and set himself up to score. Briscoe was not much of a playmaker despite the ability to get into the paint. He had a clear instinct to score.

Most importantly, his shot was much improved. He was still not a reliable 3-point shooter but he was better than he was in college. And, more importantly, more willing to shoot.

Briscoe very much took the hard lesson of missing out on the NBA and going to some far-flung place. He took advantage of the opportunity. He absolutely made himself better. And the Magic bought in and made the investment early in the summer before anyone else could find out.

Considering the Magic’s dearth of point guard options, Briscoe very much could find himself with time on the court. Certainly, if there is an injury he could.

Orlando took a bit of a risk signing him outright. And Briscoe will again have to find his way and fight for minutes. But the Magic are certainly open to giving him that time if he can earn it.

D.J. Augustin is consistent but hardly a full-time starting issue, especially because of his defensive shortcomings. And Jerian Grant has had a difficult time establishing himself in the NBA after three years in the league. The whole position feels wide open.

Orlando Magic

Briscoe is intriguing because of his size. And he was a good defender at Kentucky — he posted a 3.4 and 3.8 defensive box plus-minus according to Sports-Reference. Briscoe looked good defensively in Summer League too. He was a bull and made the Magic’s whole defensive unit tough to crack.

That promise is intriguing, to say the least. The Magic have started to form around a defensive mentality. Coach Steve Clifford certainly favors that style with the kind of defenses he built with the Charlotte Hornets the last five years. And Jonathan Isaac, Mohamed Bamba and Aaron Gordon all entered the league known more for their defense than for their offense.

Briscoe fits what the Magic are ultimately trying to build better than any point guard on the roster. He is defensive minded and versatile. With his driving ability, he also has a skill that few on the Magic have.

The question is whether Briscoe can do all that at a NBA level. No one would expect him to come in and start — or be a consistently effective starter. Then again, anything can happen. He might be the diamond in the rough the Magic have been hunting for to fill out the roster.

Briscoe has shown he can put in the work and do what is necessary to get himself back into the league. It was a risk to head overseas, especially to a more obscure team in Estonia. He was not going to be front and center and could have fallen off NBA radars.

But it says something too that Briscoe put himself back on the NBA radar. He impressed Magic brass enough in the mini-camp to get a roster spot before Summer League even began.

Now he has to impress the Magic again in training camp. But it looks like if he continues to improve, the path to playing time exists for him.