Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac cannot afford a sophomore slump

The Orlando Magic have started this season better than expected. But they still have work to do as they try to find a way to get Jonathan Isaac more aggressive on offense.

If we have learned anything about the Orlando Magic, we know they have to use ball movement as an effective way to score baskets.

The Magic are currently ranked sixth in the NBA in assists per game with 25.5 per game, a stat that usually shows a willingness to share the ball. The Magic’s assist rate is at 63.5 percent, meaning the majority of their shots come off assists. Passing and moving the ball is vital to the team.

Sharing the ball is good, but the team still has to find a way to get the ball to its best players. Aaron Gordon famously took only five shots in a loss to the LA Clippers on Nov. 2. It was a major oversight from both the players and the coaches.

And the same will go for Jonathan Isaac now that he is back in the lineup. When your first-round pick and core player is only averaging 6.8 points per game in his second year (where most pundits and experts predict a jump in production), it is time to get him more shots.

Jonathan Isaac is only averaging 6.2 field goal attempts per game. And although he had one of the best blocks the team has ever seen on Joel Embiid in a win against the Philadelphia 76ers, he has to shoot more for this team to accomplish its goal of Playoff contention.

Jonathan Isaac has shot less than all of the top six picks in the 2017 Draft this year with Markelle Fultz averaging 8.9 field goal attempts per game, Lonzo Ball 7.9,  Jason Tatum 13.3, De’Aaron Fox 12.9.

Isaac’s usage rate remains at around 15 percent, similar to last year. The plain fact is the Magic are not relying heavily on Isaac offensively. It is easy here to remember Isaac missed most of his rookie year. So he is developmentally a bit behind his draft class. And his biggest impact still comes on defense.

But Orlando certainly could use more aggression and assertiveness from Isaac for their ultimate success this year and beyond. You could argue that his shot attempts are needed much more than everyone except maybe Fox with the Sacramento Kings because all the other guys have All-Star teammates.

Markelle Fultz has Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball has LeBron James and Jayson Tatum has Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. It is easy to understand why they would take fewer shots if they chose to.

But Isaac had no All-Star on his team. Nikola Vucevic averages 14.7 field goal attempts per game and the ball still runs through him to make the offense work. Evan Fournier (a team-high 14.9 field goal attempts per game) and Aaron Gordon (13.7 field goal attempts per game) still take on a bulk of the offensive load.

That is probably how things should be for now. Isaac is still developing his offensive game. He has shown the confidence to make some aggressive moves to the basket and take shots confidently.

But he is still hitting on only 41.1 percent of his field goals and 26.3 percent of his 3-pointers. Isaac still has to find his rhythm — especially coming back from a six-game absence.

This is not all Isaac’s fault. Coach Steve Clifford needs to design more plays where Jonathan Isaac is involved. His low usage rate suggests Isaac is working more on the periphery of plays, looking to cut when there is an opening or taking spot-up shots.

Indeed, Isaac has taken 2.2 field goal attempts per game in catch-and-shoot situations according to NBA.com’s Player Tracking statistics.

Also, D.J. Augustin has to do a better job finding him for fast break opportunities. Isaac has scored only 13.2 percent of his points in transition.

Orlando Magic

The Magic will surely expand Isaac’s role as he gets more comfortable and improves his play. He still has a lot of development to go. But the Magic also need to better foster that growth.

To do that Clifford will need to put more of an emphasis on getting turnovers so Isaac can show his speed and quickness to the rim and score easy buckets. Also when running offensive sets, Clifford has to put Isaac in situations where he can run the baseline on sets to get easy baskets.

Isaac simply has to be a bigger threat.

He should be looking for his shot more often — not to the extent he was in Summer League, for sure — but he could look to be aggressive. The Magic want to see hints of Isaac’s All-Star potential. He has flashed that plenty on the defensive side. But outside that 18-point effort against the Boston Celtics, Isaac’s offensive ceiling is still uncertain.

For now, Clifford and the Magic are using Isaac as the fourth or fifth option. That is likely where he should be for now for this team to be successful. But the Magic surely will want to see his role continue to expand as he ramps back up coming off the injury and as the season progresses.

Developing Issac will be crucial to the future success of the franchise.

Isaac is like a toolbox. He has a lot of different uses and can do a lot of different things. But those tools are useless if they are not used.

That is who Issac is. He has the potential to become a great player in the NBA. But he will need the right coach to teach him and bring it out of him so he can utilize all of his tools.

The good thing about the start of this basketball year is that the Magic are teetering toward a .500 basketball team in 2018. They have already beaten the 76ers and the Celtics, two teams who most pundits had winning the East after last years Playoff. The Magic have shown they can succeed.

If they can continue to move forward and develop Isaac the Magic’s future will indeed be bright.