3. Jonathan Isaac (4 years, $22.3 million)
No one is quite sure what kinds of players Jeff Weltman wants for his Orlando Magic team. The Magic had little maneuverability this summer to make major changes to the roster — a product of little cap room and a lot of big contracts still on the books. The draft was Weltman’s biggest fingerprint.
And he went with the versatile and raw Jonathan Isaac over perhaps some more proven players.
What is worse is no one has seen much of Jonathan Isaac this year. He has played in only 15 games this season, including just three since Nov. 11. It has been a frustrating year for Isaac. After his false start returning from a sprained ankle, the Magic decided to shut him down to completely rehab the ankle. The hope is he will be back sometime after the All-Star Break.
At this point, Isaac can still trade on his potential. He is still a player who has an incredible amount of upside and could turn into a very nice player in the league.
In his short stint on the court, he showed himself to be a better defender than almost everyone else on the team. He is just 19 years old.
Isaac has great defensive instincts. It is partially coincidence the team fell apart defensively when he got hurt — he was still playing reserve minutes, so it is hard to say it is all on him.
Offensively, he still has a lot of work to go. He has to improve his shot and rework his form some to get his shot off consistently. But when he gets confident, he can be an effective scorer. Isaac is good playing within himself and doing what his team needs.
At this point, Isaac is about as untouchable as any player on the roster. The Magic want to grow and develop him. In many ways, he is the original Weltman player. It would take a lot to get him free from the Magic.
But, for now, he can trade on his potential more than his production. Teams would be happy to take him if the Magic made him available. They probably will not.