Orlando Magic Trade Value Column 2022: Preparing for the next steps

Orlando Magic Trade Value Column 2022

4. Jonathan Isaac (4 years, $69.6 million)

Last Year: 2nd

Last year in our trade value column, we named Jonathan Isaac the top player in terms of trade value — the team’s first-round pick was the No. 1 item on our list, we are foregoing that statement this time around.

Even coming off a torn ACL and missing the entire 2021 season, Isaac represented everything that was possible for the Magic. He probably remains the only player on the roster with a clearly elite-level skill.

Isaac was a sprawling defender that flirted with the All-Defensive team. He could not only lock guys down on the perimeter, but would defend the rim and make the paint a no-fly zone.

It is easy to forget he could do all that at such a high level because it has been so long since h last played.

Just as it is easy to forget how he was improving as an offensive player with his 3-point percentage especially. The big mystery for Isaac remains whether he will show the necessary aggression to take the reigns of an offense and be the primary scorer.

Recovery from a torn ACL is not supposed to take that away. But the impatience waiting for his return is starting to wear on everyone.

Isaac first injured his knee in January 2020. He returned in the bubble in August 2020 only to tear his ACL in the team’s second seeding round game (his third since returning). Isaac had surgery a few weeks later. There has been very few peeps about his recovery or when he might return since then.

The 18 months Isaac has been out have been frustrating. Everyone wants to see him play and begin growing again. The wait and the lack of information has been the worst part.

Add to that there remains the question and uncertainty of his vaccination status. Isaac is one of the few players in the league who remains unvaccinated. Rightly or wrongly, that only adds to the complications of his return and his value around the league.

Everyone just needs to see him play so he can put a lot of these questions to rest and get rid of the information vacuum that has surrounded him.

It is easy to forget just how good Isaac was before the injury. And he just needs to be back on the floor.