2020 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Jonathan Isaac

Overall Outlook

Jonathan Isaac’s 2020 season looks to be an exciting one.

Injuries completely sidelined him for his rookie year. He actually spent much of the 2019 season slowly working his way back from another ankle injury and finding his rhythm.

Once he made his way back, and with a shift in the way the team used him, the Orlando Magic began to see glimpses of what exactly they got when they drafted him sixth overall in the 2017 draft.

Healthy ankles and discovered confidence can do wonders for a person, even if they do not play any basketball at all.

For Isaac, it made a world of difference. He was an energetic wrecking ball on defense and developed into a fairly solid 3-point threat. It made a world of difference in how teams played the Magic. He was a major factor in the team’s push to their first postseason since 2012.

In the offseason, the Isaac worked on improving his body, strengthening himself to better withstand the grind of a NBA season fighting for gritty rebounds and defending the paint. He grew more confident in himself and seeks to be a more consistent offensive threat.

Questions still loom over him and the team, though.

President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond have thus far assembled a lengthy team capable of shutting down many of the best teams in the league. But it is also a team that also has many offensive limits.

Isaac has to continue to improve his game and, if possible, find ways to play alongside the other young pieces of the Magic’s core.

Looking to next season, Isaac should look to be the improved version of himself from the end of 2019 for longer stretches of the 2020 season. If he can manage to stay healthy and put his newfound strength to good use, it is possible that the version of Isaac we saw late last year is closer to his floor than his ceiling.

If that’s the case, he may just provide us some more of those magic moments.