Ranking every Orlando Magic player by trade likelihood
Ranking every Orlando Magic player by trade likelihood
6. Caleb Houstan
The Orlando Magic have a logjam at the backup small forward and power forward positions. Gary Harris, Joe Ingles, Jonathan Isaac, Moe Wagner and Caleb Houstan can all contribute to the team's success in their own way.
Initially, Houstan was not able to see the court because of the veterans ahead of him on the depth chart. Injuries have given Houstan an opportunity and he is taking full advantage of it.
He is shooting 2.8 threes per game through 12.7 minutes per game and making 39.1 percent of them. That is an impressive clip with a lack of consistent playing time for the 21-year-old.
Houstan is an intriguing wing prospect at 6-foot-8 and a quick release. He has a 7-foot wingspan and can move his feet well on the defensive end.
If Orlando were to make him available teams would certainly be interested. The biggest drawback might be there is little the team could get for him since he is still on a second-round rookie contract -- netting him just $2 million this year. That makes it hard to find equal value for what Houstan has slowly grown into this season.
Magic players joke Houstan is the first in the gym and the last one to leave every day. The hard work is translating on the court and coach Jamahl Mosley might need to continue to find minutes for Caleb Houstan.
Orlando likes what it has from the former Michigan Wolverine, but he could be dealt to upgrade the roster.
5. Jonathan Isaac
The NBA has been quite the rollercoaster for 26-year-old Jonathan Isaac.
He has been able to play in 21 games this season which is a major step considering he played in only 11 games during hte previous three seasons because of two major knee injuries. But his minutes are limited.
Isaac has been trending in the opposite direction and has not been able to suit up for the team in December. This is disappointing after being an X-factor for this Orlando team in their success early in the season.
He certainly is not living up to the $17.4 million salary the team is paying him. And the time to sit with that large amount of essentially dead money is coming to an end now that the team is competing and trying to win.
But what is next? And is there some other team willing to invest in his potential?
His contract is fully non-guaranteed next season so Orlando has some flexibility with him. They can see how he plays for the remainder of the season and determine if he is worth the remaining year on his contract. The Magic can also leverage him in a trade for a team to gain cap flexibility.
In the NBA cap space has become a valuable commodity and $17.4 million removed from a team's cap sheet during the summer can be vital to sign a big-name free agent or to clear a bad contract off the books for future flexibility.
Orlando could also waive his contract this summer and then look to re-sign him for a discounted deal. The Magic have treated Isaac with a significant amount of support and patience through his slew of injuries so he might look to come back on a reasonable contract to help this team compete. When healthy, he can still clearly make a big impact on the team.
Isaac still has potential but he needs to find a way to stay on the court for the remainder of the season. He has little value and trading for him would be a gamble that most teams would stay away from so he would be likely acquired to clear cap space.