Improvement
Whose improvement is more critical to the team, AG or Issac? How much better will Issac be for this team? Is he a centerpiece?
— Wade Jiang (@WadeJiangHe) October 22, 2019
This is a really good question. While the Orlando Magic are absolutely focused on winning in the present and making the playoffs and advancing, this is still a young team with a little bit of a development angle to them.
So whose improvement is more critical?
In the short-term, I would say Aaron Gordon. I think the Magic need Gordon to take another leap in his game. He needs to be more efficient with his production and a better creator off the dribble.
This has been a struggle for him early on this season. He has really found difficulty creating off the dribble as the team’s ball movement has cratered. There is nothing wrong if Gordon is a strong defender and someone who can attack off rotations. But that will hurt the team in the short term from achieving all of its goals and potential.
In the long-term, though, Jonathan Isaac is probably more important. And his growth this year is much clearer to see.
Isaac has probably been the Magic’s best overall player through four games this season. His defensive activity has been tremendous and that growth has the Magic looking at a potentially elite defense.
Orlando is still not running much offense through him — in fact, almost none at all. But Isaac is starting to find his ways to score. He took 10 shots in the loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was hard to argue with any of his looks, even if he missed those shots.
Then he had a breakout game with 24 points on 7-for-10 shooting against the Toronto Raptors. He will not make five 3-pointers often, but that showed his potential and growing confidence. He followed that up with a solid game against the New York Knicks. His play early in the second half and his defense late in the game were decisive factors in the win.
The Magic want to see Isaac continue to grow more confident offensively. His role should expand as his confidence grows. Teammates know how good he can be and are putting him in positions to succeed.
That growth from Isaac — especially his outside shot — could very well change the Magic.
Can Isaac be that centerpiece? I am guilty as anyone of going from one player to the next to find the next guy for this team. One day, it will be Isaac’s turn.
Isaac is certainly a centerpiece defender. That much already seems clear. It will be interesting to see how the rest of his offensive game develops as the season goes on.
But this Magic team’s future still feels in flux. It is not clear how things will fall at this point. So the team will still have its work cut out for it moving forward as it tries to win this year.
Thanks to everyone for the questions. I appreciate all the interactions. We will be sure to do another mailbag soon. Until then, you can always stay in touch with the site on Twitter @omagicdaily or drop us a line by e-mail at omagicdaily@gmail.com.