2018-19 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Jonathan Isaac
The Good and the Bad
| Season | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 75 | 64 | 26.6 | .429 | .323 | .499 | .815 | 5.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 9.6 |
| Career | 102 | 74 | 24.8 | .419 | .327 | .487 | .806 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 8.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/7/2019.
The Orlando Magic had to treat this year like it was Jonathan Isaac’s rookie year. He missed so much time and played so little for the team in his first season, he simply had not had much experience. The game was still clearly very fast for him.
That was the case early in the year. His length helped him eliminate a lot of mistakes he made defensively — his main role for the team through the early part of his season — all the while he stayed sort of out of the way offensively.
His overall numbers do not look fantastic. He averaged 9.6 points per game, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 32.3 percent from beyond the arc.
His 1.3 blocks per game helped highlight the defense he played all year. According to Basketball-Reference, he posted 3.1 defensive win shares and a +2.0 defensive box plus-minus. All his defensive numbers, as crude as those metrics might be, all track positively.
But Isaac really had two different seasons. There was the first half of the season when he was getting used to the NBA and then getting confidence in his body again.
And then there was the second half of the season — roughly the last 31 games. And yes, that is when the Magic went from their 20-31 start to 22-9 to finish the season.
During that crazed playoff push, Isaac averaged 11.8 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game. He shot 45.0 percent from the floor and 35.8 percent from beyond the arc. He started to look like the player the Magic will ultimately need him to be on both ends of the floor.
Related Story. 2019 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Jonathan Isaac. light
Even just the ability to hit a corner three consistently made him such a valuable weapon. Steve Clifford lamented the Magic could not get him more involved in the offense. There were just so many mouths to feed and Isaac was not as much of a priority.
His offensive game was still fairly rudimentary. He was good working off cuts and hitting corner 3-pointers, but the Magic were not running many pick and rolls for him. And Jonathan Isaac was not finishing games — Terrence Ross would take his spot.
But there were so many flashes of what he could become.
Even in the playoffs, his impact was abundantly clear. He was one of the few guys who could hold his own on Pascal Siakam — he shot 52.8 percent against him in the playoff series, but Jonathan Isaac made his job much more difficult than any other player on the roster. The Magic should have played Isaac more to match Siakam’s size.
That part will come. He looked very much like a rookie throughout the season. But one that can clearly grow. Especially with the experience he now has under his belt.