3 Numbers that hint at Orlando Magic's potential defensive dominance

102.1: Jonathan Isaac's on-court defensive rating

If there is a lot of excitement for the Orlando Magic's untapped defensive potential, it likely begins with the fact that Jonathan Isaac was on something of a pitch count throughout his recovery season last year.

After making a cameo in the 2023 season after nearly three years out with various knee injuries, the Magic carefully guarded Isaac throughout the 2024 season. He did not play in back-to-backs and played limited minutes. Orlando was quick to hold him out if things were not feeling right.

Still, the impact Isaac made was abundantly clear. He earned the moniker of the best per-minute defender just because there was no other way to measure his defensive impact.

The Magic's 102.1 defensive rating with Isaac on the floor is a pretty good measure of that. The Magic's most-used lineup with Jonathan Isaac—playing alongside Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Joe Ingles and Moe Wagner—had a 101.8 defensive rating in 102 minutes.

Those are not exactly dominant defenders Isaac is paired with.

The criticism of Isaac is that he knew he was playing so few minutes (he averaged a little more than 15 minutes per game) that he could go all out. And there is a criticism that Isaac was a drain on offense, but always gave more defensively than he took away offensively—the team had only a 113.0 offensive rating with him on the floor, slightly better than the team's overall average.

The hope though is that a healthy offseason will allow the Magic to unleash Isaac further. He may not be this game-changing on defense, but he will still have a positive impact.

His minutes increased after the All-Star Break and the Magic maintained a 104.2 defensive rating with Isaac on the floor, 4.0 points per 100 possessions better than their average. In the Playoffs, the Magic had a 98.7 defensive rating with Isaac on the floor, 1.3 points per 100 possessions better than the team's postseason average.

And that includes the struggles he had defending Jarrett Allen in Games 1 and 2 as the starting center.

There is still a lot of areas for Isaac to grow. And the Magic will be looking for as many ways they can use him as they can. Isaac could be in for a much bigger role.

And that should make the Magic's defense a whole lot better.