"Jonathan is having a great summer."

[SHAQ32]

He's only missed 17 games guys

[cedric76]

The X factor

[Fortune Teller]

He's "only" missed 17 games in the first half of the season, which means he's missed 41.5% of the games. And in the games he's played, he's averaging 13.6 minutes per game.

In many ways, this season has been the most telling in the Isaac saga. We were told he was, and is, healthy. We were told his hamstring injury that kept him out most of last year was "minor", even though it required surgery. The Magic have not reported that he is currently injured in any way. The games he's missed have been due to things like "sore hamstring". So why was he out 41.5% of the first half of the season, while only averaging 13.6 mpg in the games where he suits up?

The front office will never tell us, and apparently Isaac won't either. But what we've been saying for the past 3-4 years is apparently true -- doctors likely have told him that his body cannot withstand regular playing time in the NBA, and this is as good as it gets. I'd be willing to bet retirement has been on the table but that would mean sacrificing many millions of dollars. Ownership loves him, so they are currently paying him voluntarily because they could've saved $10 million this season by simply moving on. Next season is completely non-guaranteed, so if they bring him back at $17.4 million (still the highest-paid player on the roster), it will be fair to ask why.

[jezzerinho]

He's "only" missed 17 games in the first half of the season, which means he's missed 41.5% of the games. And in the games he's played, he's averaging 13.6 minutes per game.

In many ways, this season has been the most telling in the Isaac saga. We were told he was, and is, healthy. We were told his hamstring injury that kept him out most of last year was "minor", even though it required surgery. The Magic have not reported that he is currently injured in any way. The games he's missed have been due to things like "sore hamstring". So why was he out 41.5% of the first half of the season, while only averaging 13.6 mpg in the games where he suits up?

The front office will never tell us, and apparently Isaac won't either. But what we've been saying for the past 3-4 years is apparently true -- doctors likely have told him that his body cannot withstand regular playing time in the NBA, and this is as good as it gets. I'd be willing to bet retirement has been on the table but that would mean sacrificing many millions of dollars. Ownership loves him, so they are currently paying him voluntarily because they could've saved $10 million this season by simply moving on. Next season is completely non-guaranteed, so if they bring him back at $17.4 million (still the highest-paid player on the roster), it will be fair to ask why.

Isaac has been paid twice as much per minute this year as Steph has. Steph has the leagues highest salary at $52m and JI is out earning him per minute on the court by double.

[ogmagicfan]

So far, so good from JI this season. Just stay healthy & keep giving us 15-20 mins of great defense.

I'm still surprised how many posters were ready to give up on him, he's a generational defensive player & if it wasnt for injuries would have multiple DPOY awards already

Lets pray he stays healthy

58 Games played this season

15.8 MPG, while ramping up for more minutes as the season progressed.

Best defender in the NBA by most metrics.

This season was a success for Isaac.

[drsd]

So far, so good from JI this season. Just stay healthy & keep giving us 15-20 mins of great defense.

I'm still surprised how many posters were ready to give up on him, he's a generational defensive player & if it wasnt for injuries would have multiple DPOY awards already

Lets pray he stays healthy

58 Games played this season

15.8 MPG, while ramping up for more minutes as the season progressed.

Best defender in the NBA by most metrics.

This season was a success for Isaac.

It is 100% that's Isaac 17M contract is picked up. It will be interesting to see if Orlando works out a new deal for him, and at what cost. If the Magic get a star-guard, long term, that will cost Isaac. Orlando won't be able to afford Isaac at 20M if a 30M guard is acquired.

[ogmagicfan]

So far, so good from JI this season. Just stay healthy & keep giving us 15-20 mins of great defense.

I'm still surprised how many posters were ready to give up on him, he's a generational defensive player & if it wasnt for injuries would have multiple DPOY awards already

Lets pray he stays healthy

58 Games played this season

15.8 MPG, while ramping up for more minutes as the season progressed.

Best defender in the NBA by most metrics.

This season was a success for Isaac.

It is 100% that's Isaac 17M contract is picked up. It will be interesting to see if Orlando works out a new deal for him, and at what cost. If the Magic get a star-guard, long term, that will cost Isaac. Orlando won't be able to afford Isaac at 20M if a 30M guard is acquired.

The cap should be increasing by season, and the TV deal expires next season so a fairly big bump in cap should occur due to the new deal.

So I think we can & should be able to afford Isaac, while still affording a 30+ mil guard

If Isaac plays 60+ games next season, while averaging 20+ mpg, I'll offer a 3 yr/60 mil contract with a team option 3rd yr in a heartbeat.

[drsd]

The cap should be increasing by season, and the TV deal expires next season so a fairly big bump in cap should occur due to the new deal.

So I think we can & should be able to afford Isaac, while still affording a 30+ mil guard

If Isaac plays 60+ games next season, while averaging 20+ mpg, I'll offer a 3 yr/60 mil contract with a team option 3rd yr in a heartbeat.

The off-season before 2025.26 will be wild for Orlando. This off-season is simply though: re-up M-Wagner and Isaac, find a new starting guard that can shoot, and extend F-Wagner and Suggs to more money than some countries have (that has no cap effect in year one). See: simple.

In conclusion: the extension contracts of F-Wagner and Suggs will kick in the year after next, and that's 60M in cap space for just two players. Orlando has A LOT less money than one would think by looking at salary cap tables that exist today. Resigning Isaac will be tough. Not impossible, but tough. Whatever you think the cap will be, subtract 100M a year from that from 2026.27: that is what Banchero, F-Wagner and Suggs will be paid. Thus: there is between 50-80M a year to divide between 11 other contracts. Let's say that the cap in 2026.27 will be 170M, that means the Magic has on average 6.5M per player to offer before going over the first cap.

[drsd]

He's only missed 17 games guys

Bitadze played more minutes than Isaac.

[Flannerz]

So far, so good from JI this season. Just stay healthy & keep giving us 15-20 mins of great defense.

I'm still surprised how many posters were ready to give up on him, he's a generational defensive player & if it wasnt for injuries would have multiple DPOY awards already

Lets pray he stays healthy

58 Games played this season

15.8 MPG, while ramping up for more minutes as the season progressed.

Best defender in the NBA by most metrics.

This season was a success for Isaac.

You've jinxed him. He'll get injured in game one now!

[MartinsIzAfraud]

I’ll eat some crap for this one, didn’t think he’d be able to get through 30 games or so.

Playoffs will be a big test for him as well but he seems back on track. Would love to decline and lock him up to a longer deal like 3/45 team option after 2.

[Fortune Teller]

Not to rain on the parade, but what Isaac did this season could be fool's gold.

He still missed 24 games and only averaged 15.8 mpg, and according to the team and Isaac himself he was completely healthy. It's fair to question whether this is the max his body is capable of handling. Recency Bias causes us to minimize the fact that he only played 11 games last year, 0 games the year before that, 0 games the year before that, and 34 games the year before that. If you are a student of history, you would likely predict that he will not make it through 58 games next year, even at a paltry 15.8 mpg.

I don't think it would be wise to extend him this summer. Let's see what he does next season, and what effect actually playing this year has on his body this summer. Yes, he's a next-level defender at 15.8 mpg, but he's never shown that he can sustain that for a whole season or even with an average workload. Maybe 58 games at 15.8 mpg is worth it when you consider his defensive impact, but will he even play that much next season? That's a pretty big risk.

[basketballRob]

Not to rain on the parade, but what Isaac did this season could be fool's gold.

He still missed 24 games and only averaged 15.8 mpg, and according to the team and Isaac himself he was completely healthy. It's fair to question whether this is the max his body is capable of handling. Recency Bias causes us to minimize the fact that he only played 11 games last year, 0 games the year before that, 0 games the year before that, and 34 games the year before that. If you are a student of history, you would likely predict that he will not make it through 58 games next year, even at a paltry 15.8 mpg.

I don't think it would be wise to extend him this summer. Let's see what he does next season, and what effect actually playing this year has on his body this summer. Yes, he's a next-level defender at 15.8 mpg, but he's never shown that he can sustain that for a whole season or even with an average workload. Maybe 58 games at 15.8 mpg is worth it when you consider his defensive impact, but will he even play that much next season? That's a pretty big risk.

You know that we'd be battling with Atlanta for the 10th spot without him this year? Plus, he's been on minutes restriction, just like Suggs was on minutes restriction nearly all of last season.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Skybox]

Not to rain on the parade, but what Isaac did this season could be fool's gold.

He still missed 24 games and only averaged 15.8 mpg, and according to the team and Isaac himself he was completely healthy. It's fair to question whether this is the max his body is capable of handling. Recency Bias causes us to minimize the fact that he only played 11 games last year, 0 games the year before that, 0 games the year before that, and 34 games the year before that. If you are a student of history, you would likely predict that he will not make it through 58 games next year, even at a paltry 15.8 mpg.

I don't think it would be wise to extend him this summer. Let's see what he does next season, and what effect actually playing this year has on his body this summer. Yes, he's a next-level defender at 15.8 mpg, but he's never shown that he can sustain that for a whole season or even with an average workload. Maybe 58 games at 15.8 mpg is worth it when you consider his defensive impact, but will he even play that much next season? That's a pretty big risk.

I'll admit I was ready to move on last summer...however, JI was the X-factor this season.

To my understanding, "back spasms" likely is another way of saying "load management" (which you can't say)...I don't think he missed much time, if any, this season due to current injuries-I think they were, understandably being cautious.. I also understand this might be the way it is for him going forward...which is OK. IF they could extend him for a reasonable amount (say $17-22m x 4) with some similar injury "outs" like before - they should do it ASAP. I previously thought that you weren't allowed to void a non-guaranteed deal and cut another longer term deal, but I think I may have been wrong. If ORL was able to negotiate on the basis of appx 20 min per game, the price might be right...If he didn't have the injury concerns, he'd be a huge salary-look at Gobert...I really think he's THAT impactful defensively and is key to what Mosley envisions for this team...He and Suggs make any game winnable - just by speculating that they neutralize opposing stars. It doesn't always work out that way - but there's tremendous value in that possibility existing. Their value becomes even more critical if (PLEASE!!) ORL adds a scoring specialist this summer that is unlikely to offer high-level individual defense - very few scorers do.

I hope they are proactive in re-signing him before his market value skyrockets just as he hits UFA status. This would be the summer to do it...assuming, of course, that they could include injury protections as before.

I'd also start him at Center...even if his overall minutes don't go beyond 18-25 mpg. He can spend the summer working on pick-setting technique and defensive positioning and rebounding for a C...he's got the humility and work ethic to embrace that stuff in the name of winning.

[eyriq]

I'm still low-key really in on the idea of selling high. Frankly though I don't know how to measure injury risk. But if you can trade JI, AB, and Jett for Trae?

[ORLMagicGirl15]

I'm still low-key really in on the idea of selling high. Frankly though I don't know how to measure injury risk. But if you can trade JI, AB, and Jett for Trae?

And in the midst of getting Trae, the only defender you now have is Suggs, maybe Franz. And now have to find one good guard defender, one DPOY level defender and a promising young player. You still have to find replacements for Harris, Fultz, and Ingles.

[PrimeThyme]

I’ll eat some crap for this one, didn’t think he’d be able to get through 30 games or so. .

In my opinion, the only people who should eat crow are the few over the years that insisted Isaac was not a generational-level defender when healthy.

As far as the health part goes, I don't see how anyone with any sort of confidence could have predicted he'd be able to put together a healthy season again at this level. Klay missed less time with a torn ACL and Achilles in back-to-back years than Isaac did with his ailments. It's almost unprecedented and Weltman definitely took on risk by doing so.

It's tough to say what the opportunity cost of having his contract rot on our bench for all those years was, but It's all forgiven now with how things have played out in the end. Idk what his next contract would look like, but there would have to be injury outs like this one had for me to have any sort of confidence in giving him one. You cannot have a dead contract like that in Paolo's prime years.