Orlando Magic Daily
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2019 Orlando Magic: Five questions for the third quarter of the season

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - NOVEMBER 18: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball against the New York Knicks on November 18, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - NOVEMBER 18: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball against the New York Knicks on November 18, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic
ORLANDO, FL – NOVEMBER 17: Jonathan Isaac #1 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 17, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Can Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba get more consistent?

The Orlando Magic being in the Playoff race has been a pleasant surprise for the season so far. But it has put on the back burner some of the big questions this team had to answer this season for its long-term future. This is still a rebuild after all.

Playing mostly through Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon has rightly gotten some criticism. The team has played that road before and it has not gotten positive results. This year being on pace for 34 wins is something of a success.

But no one is going to confuse that with real success.

No matter how close the Magic get to the Playoff race, they still need to make some major roster changes. No one will deny that. And so part of what has to happen in the second half of the season is they have to see some development from their core players in Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba.

Both Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba have had their struggles this season. They have also had plenty of moments where they looked really good. In essence, they are both rookies still (Isaac after a virtual redshirt year). And so their play should not be all too surprising.

Their struggles — especially recently — only comes into sharp focus because of how necessary they are for the team to win. Orlando needed both to play at a high level to have any chance of sniffing the postseason.

This year, Isaac is averaging 7.9 points per game while shooting a 45.6 percent effective field goal percentage. Both of those are up from last year. So it is hard to say Isaac has not improved. But he is not developing in a straight line.

With more playing time, Isaac’s defensive impact is not the same as it was last year. He is still a strong defender but shows plenty of rookie tendencies. He bights on pump fakes and he relies too much on his athleticism to recover. Isaac has put attention to detail on his technique, but he is still young and has plenty of room to develop.

Isaac has not taken the leap forward everyone expected despite these improvements. His recent struggles especially have been discouraging. It feels like Isaac’s offensive confidence wavers at times. He was passing up open shots.

It can come back just as quickly though. Still, Isaac’s offensive game is very rudimentary. The team cannot quite hand him the ball or run plays for him yet.

The same could be said for Bamba.

Bamba has looked even more the part of the rookie. It often feels like Bamba is thinking a bit too much on the court as he tries to understand the NBA game and get up to speed. Bamba recently said the team asked him to be more assertive on defense to try to break him out of that and play on instincts, trusting his teammates behind him.

Bamba has not had the immediate defensive impact everyone thought. In fact, Bamba’s on-court net rating is one of the worst in the league among rotation players. So it is safe to say there are a ton of growing pains with him.

He is averaging 6.3 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 1.4 blocks per game. The outlines of what Bamba can be are all there. But he still gets pushed around physically on the block and is struggling to find his shot as he did earlier in the season.

Clifford said at the beginning of the season the goal with Bamba was to have him be better at the end of the season than he was at the beginning. The Magic want to see both these young players progress throughout the season.

Both are hitting a bit of a wall at the midpoint of the season. As this season evolves, the Magic will surely want to see more. They may be willing to experiment and give them more opportunity if the team falls out of the Playoff race.

How they progress throughout the rest of the season is a big part of the team’s future development beyond this season.