Jonathan Isaac must gain his rhythm in Summer League

The Orlando Magic did not get to see much of Jonathan Isaac in his rookie year. As he gets set for Summer League they must see him at his most comfortable.

Last summer, Jonathan Isaac was clearly a bit nervous and rushed in his first Summer League showing. His game was still raw, the Orlando Magic knew that, but the moment seemed to overwhelm him at first.

His first shots were rushed and missed badly. He had to remove himself from the game as he was short of breath. It was an odd start to his basketball career.

It was a good thing none of it counted. This was Summer League after all.

In the three games Isaac played, his comfort was clearly growing. He began to show flashes of his defensive ability — famously snatching the ball from mid-air on a Gian Clavell jumper. His offensive game even started making strides. His shots were much more patient and in rhythm. He pulled off Dirk Nowitzki‘s one-legged fadeaway on someone.

Isaac’s talent was evident. But it all came in spurts. Isaac never had the time to put everything together.

His second game was strong and Isaac was putting on a show through the first quarter of his third game. Then a hip injury knocked him out for the rest of the summer.

This would all prove to be foreshadowing in the end, it appears.

Isaac never really had a rookie year, playing in just 27 games. He rolled his ankle about 20 games into the season. That caused him to miss nearly 50 games — with one false start return in the middle. By the time he was ready to return, he was well behind the curve and trying to catch up to the fast pace of the NBA game.

It was safe to say his rookie year was lost. The team threw him out on the court just to get him experience — the season was lost anyway. There were no real goals or expectations for his production. He just needed to run around and play again.

But even in those short games he played, it was easy to see what Isaac could become.

He made an immediate impact on defense — the team had a 101.1 defensive rating with Isaac on the floor, the best mark of any individual on the team. His length and athleticism came to bear on that end and he showed an advanced understanding of positioning and how to recover when he made mistakes.

Isaac said, perhaps naively, that defense in the NBA was easy and that he knew he could get better. Maybe exuberantly, it was easy to project Isaac as a future All-NBA First Team player. And fitting in with a rim protector like Mohamed Bamba and Aaron Gordon next to him seems to have created the potential for a killer front court defensively.

Still, Isaac has a long way to go to get where the Magic need him to go. Throughout his rookie season, he indeed looked rushed and a bit lost offensively. His poor offense dulled the defensive impact he made.

Isaac, who averaged 5.4 points per game and shot a 43.4 percent effective field goal percentage, did not show everything he could do offensively. He often looked tentative attacking off the dribble and never truly found a rhythm. He looked uncomfortable. What he succeeded at was what he was naturally good at.

It left prcious little clues to what he could do beyond that simplified role. Isaac remained all potential.

His season was much like that Summer League outing. Every time it seemed like Isaac was starting to get going, something was put in his way to slow him down. When he did get extended playing time, the momentum was clearly building.

He played 10 straight games in March and was beginning to find that rhythm — including a 10-point, five-rebound and five-steal performance against the Toronto Raptors. That was likely his best overall game of the season. He missed the next three games and his rookie season looked officially over (he played two more before the team shut him down).

Isaac has spent much of his time since his final game on April 1 and the end of the Magic’s season on April 11 working on his game. He got put on muscle watch fairly early in the offseason as the forward was slowly putting on muscle to his somewhat slight frame.

Really the most exciting part of those workout videos and hearing about how Isaac was changing his approach was the thought of his offensive game beginning to expand.

It was the idea of him expanding his offensive game. The idea of seeing Isaac get consistent — healthy — time on the court. It was the idea of seeing Isaac fully realized.

This Summer League is a chance for Isaac to show what he can do when he has an extended period on the court. This is his chance to continue blossoming as a player and preview what is in store in 2019. The next week will help Issac confirm his hard work and allow him to put in double time heading into training camp in September.

The Magic honestly do not know what to expect from Isaac. They saw so little of him last year. Trying to plan what they can get from Isaac for the 2019 season is hard.

They say players make their biggest leap from their rookie to sophomore years. But can Isaac go from averaging 5.4 points per game and shooting 43.4 percent effective percentage to 12-14 points per game with an effective field goal percentage around 50 percent? That would be quite a leap.

Whether Isaac can make such an astounding leap likely gets previewed this week in Las Vegas.

He will have the ball in his hands a lot more with this group. He has already taken on something of a leadership role, taking rookie Mohamed Bamba under his wing to some extent. Isaac is probably the best player on the Magic’s Summer League team. The expectation is he will lead the team in scoring — for however long he plays.

This Summer League will be the first time Magic fans get to see Isaac in rhythm. They will get to see him comfortable in himself and his setting and able to do his best to take over games. He has been through this grinder before.

That is something the Magic never saw last year. Orlando was left in the dark with exactly what their rookie could do.

That will change now. Isaac will get his chance to put himself on full display in this setting. The Magic need him to.

Next: 5 things to watch from Orlando Magic's Summer League

Finally, he will have his rhythm and his comfort to do so.