Lowe: NBA's six most intriguing players (Isaac No. 1)

[Knightro]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27698446/nba-six-most-intriguing-players

The players are Jonathan Isaac, Mitchell Robinson, Russell Westbrook, Jerami Grant, JaMychal Green and Luke Kennard.

Here's the Isaac section...

Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic

Orlando's offseason plan for Isaac led him to a startling discovery.

"I did not know I could eat this much," Isaac says. "My mind is blown. Eating is almost not enjoyable anymore." Isaac says he has eaten five or six "real meals" every day to add heft to his string-bean frame -- without compromising the quickness and switchability that hold All-Defense promise.

The Magic estimate Isaac has put on 15 to 20 pounds. That would mitigate his only major vulnerability on defense: brutes burrowing into Isaac's chest, dislodging him, and lofting layups as he stumbles backward. Against some teams, the Magic toggled assignments so Aaron Gordon would defend behemoth power forwards -- leaving Isaac to trail wings.

Jeff Van Gundy often had Isaac defend wings during practices with the USA Select team; during that camp, Isaac says he texted Pat Delaney, an Orlando assistant, requesting Delaney prepare film of players who were good at scampering around with wings. "I really don't know how to read guys coming off screens," Isaac says.

Isaac should become a stopper against every position. His combination of length and speed is outrageous. He reads the game well. What stands out already is an absence of mistakes -- unusual for a player so young.

The other side will determine Isaac's ceiling (All-Star or solid starter?) and whether the Magic's ultra-big lineups can squeeze enough points for Orlando to chase home-court advantage in the first round.

Isaac is never going to be a high-volume screen-setter alongside Gordon and Nikola Vucevic. He lives off the ball. Isaac shot 38 percent from deep after the All-Star break last season (kindly ignore his 4-of-20 mark in the first round of the playoffs against Toronto!), and carrying that over is one of Orlando's most important swing factors.

Opponents are going to ignore Isaac, clogging up everything else, until he proves he can punish them. Forcing defenders to guard him more closely would unlock a surprisingly nifty pump-and-go game. Isaac can handle lefty and righty, and see the next pass:

(He still settles for too many pull-up 2-pointers.)

Isaac is only so useful loitering around the arc. He has good timing as a cutter, but the Magic rarely found him; Isaac would often slip open toward the rim, raise his arms, and continue with polite dejection to the other side. Cutting also slides Isaac into offensive rebounding position, and the Magic -- 22nd in both scoring efficiency and offensive rebounding rate -- could use extra juice there:

He would be a threat hanging in the dunker spot. He can dive to the rim when he and Vucevic set staggered screens:

Opponents will switch, wagering Isaac can't hurt little guys in the post. Isaac averaged just 0.54 points per possession on post-ups, second worst among 166 players who logged at least 25 such plays last season, per Second Spectrum. Bulking up should help. The apex version of Isaac should dust traditional power forwards and score over wings -- denying opponents the luxury of tailoring frontcourt matchups to stop Gordon.

"I think there will be more post-ups," Isaac says. He has dipped his toe into bringing the ball up and running a two-man game with Vucevic. He flashes finesse that catches you off-guard, with loping Euro-steps and soft floaters.

"I feel like I can do everything," he says.

Isaac exists in a state of tension with many of Steve Clifford's central tenets. Clifford's teams have historically punted on working the offensive glass to get back on defense. Isaac should be a weapon in transition, but Clifford's teams are cautious there; defensive rebounding comes first. "I'd like to get more leak-outs, but we don't do that much," Isaac says. Random cuts muck up spacing.

Tension is healthy. The Magic need a dose of wildness. They need methods of scrounging points beyond their intricate half-court system. By not precisely fitting in, Isaac can round out the Magic.

It's hard to overstate how much the Magic love Isaac. They have batted away any Isaac trade inquiries, sources say. He has quickly become a standard-bearer of the culture president Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond want to nurture.

Isaac's younger brother, Jeremiah, 11, is almost part of the team. He is always around the facility, and makes regular rotation suggestions to Clifford -- not always in favor of his brother, Clifford says. Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says.

Orlando is betting on Isaac's work ethic. Most players return home after doing local media the day after being drafted. The Magic expected Isaac to do the same in 2017. Instead, he asked whether coaches were around that weekend; he wanted to start work.

That story has stuck with higher-ups. They hope the payoff is coming.

[Knightro]

A lot of neat stuff about Isaac, but...

"Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says."

...is what caught my eye the most. Appears the Magic were locked in on Okeke well before the draft ever played out.

[PrimeThyme]

Pretty much a prime example of why Zack Lowe is my favorite NBA media personality. Not because he gives us respect and has been high on us this summer (long-time followers of him know he has deservingly clowned us for years), but because he is one of the few guys in the media that actually knows what he is talking about. You can tell he doesn't just watch the big market teams, but that he also gives smaller market teams like us a chance and watches the games.

I agree with most things said in this article. I think he along with Fultz are our two swing players this season that could decide whether we are the 7th seed again or the 3rd. If you want to see the kind of impact Isaac at his best can have for a team, go watch the first half of Game 3 against Toronto. He single handily dominated a quarter on both ends (shutting down Kawai) and kept us in the game. He can have that kind of impact for a team, with how special he is defensively.

If he could just shoot 37% from 3 and consistently hit that corner shot I think he is in for a big season this year.

[dsg2021]

All I want this season is for JI and AG to always keep improving, working nonstop, and playing the best that they can. Make ‘em pay for stepping on the court against you two.

[tiderulz]

A lot of neat stuff about Isaac, but...

"Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says."

...is what caught my eye the most. Appears the Magic were locked in on Okeke well before the draft ever played out.

lol, you caught that too huh?

[j-ragg]

A lot of neat stuff about Isaac, but...

"Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says."

...is what caught my eye the most. Appears the Magic were locked in on Okeke well before the draft ever played out.

Not sayin you’re wrong or anything but it’s possible the Magic gave him a range of people to get comfortable saying their names. Actually saying that out loud sounds kind of irresponsible to give an 11 year old the list of names of all your potential draftees. But then again he’s the brother of a player and suggests rotations to Cliff for some reason... ok I’m done overthinking this.

[MagicFan101]

A lot of neat stuff about Isaac, but...

"Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says."

...is what caught my eye the most. Appears the Magic were locked in on Okeke well before the draft ever played out.

No necessarily.

It doesn’t say he practiced ONLY Chuma Okeke all day ...

The fact that we drafted him should be evidence enough that he was on our short list ... along with a few others.

[Popsicle1228]

A lot of neat stuff about Isaac, but...

"Weltman even let Jeremiah call in Orlando's picks to the league office during the draft. He practiced pronouncing Chuma Okeke's name all day, Isaac says."

...is what caught my eye the most. Appears the Magic were locked in on Okeke well before the draft ever played out.

I noticed that as well, but what really caught my eye is the culture that the new regime is trying to build. The example is letting Isaac's little brother call in picks and be close to the team. Seems they are working hard to build trust and continuity with the guys. This should also help to attract free agents since management reputations can often play a significant role in the decisions of FA's and it is a long way from the days of not allowing Duncan's family on the team plane. I love it!

[MagicFan101]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

[j-ragg]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

[MagicFan101]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

[pepe1991]

Zach has a thing where he almost always skips big market teams when he writes this sort of articles.

Last year his intriguing players were: Rubio ( Jazz), Sabonis (Pacers), Jamal Murray ( Nuggets) , Wiggins (T wolves), Murray ( Spurs) and whole Celtics roster.

Year before : Rodney Hood ( Jazz), Nurkić ( Blazers), Dallas frontcourt, Winslow, Drummond and Holiday.

2016-17 : Turner, Capela, Schroder,Carroll, MKG and Jabari.

In general Lowe is pretty much only credible personality on ESPN who cares about non contenders who are not Lakers or Knicks.

As for Isaac - Smith thing , it depends what you need, and you use 2 and half years of hindsight to make your point. Magic didn't really need Isaac, and matter of fact they still don't. He doesn't even finsih games and is still 27 mpg player who is regular sub for Terrence Ross.

Smith really didn't have good time in nba so far, part of it is on him ,but part of it is being drafted by teams without any structure. Dallas drafted him and made trade for Doncic. Same would happen to 99% of rookies, including Isaac and Fultz if team landed Doncic, they would be moved if their presence would hinder Doncic in any way.
I'm interested to see what he can bring with Fizdale. Guy has crazy talent, but seems to struggle with BBIQ and decision making. I mean guy this year dropped 50 in that Jamal Crawford PRo AM game where Gordon also played. But his efficiency in nba is flat out terrible so far.

if he busts out i'll be first in line to admit i was wrong.

btw i loved Fultz trade and what he represents, now will he be able to ever play like 1# pick or like guy traded for second round picks that's on him and on him only.

[j-ragg]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

I’m one of those people. I think Fultz deal was a good move in a vacuum. Wanted DSJ over Isaac (I don’t think that’s anything too embarrassing) but still think this team doesn’t make sense in the modern NBA.

Anyway didn’t mean to detract from the thread. We all want Isaac to be great. Hoping he gets more recognition as the season goes on.

[PrimeThyme]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

I feel like a lot of people still are questioning it. I remember many of game threads and discussions last year where DSJ was brought up as someone they still wish we drafted over Isaac.

[pepe1991]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Magic current sucess is built on a shoulders of Vučević, Ross, Dj, Evan and Gordon. Each and every single one of them was there before them.
So how do you know they can build a team when they did nothing in building one but change a coach?

Why are we still doing this? If Vučević had 50 games long injury last year Magic would still be lottery team.
If Ross had 40-50 games injury, odds are, team would still be in lottery.

We Ham made investments with Bamba, Isaac and Fultz and lesser degree Iwundu, Okeke and Frazier but nobody knows outcomes of that results because it's simply too early to tell. But investing money in Ross , Vuc and Gordon they locked core that they didn't draft for long time, allowing themselfs almost no space to operate.

This is not situation like Daryl Morey where guy gets a job and makes trade for future league's' MVP and one of most unstoppable scorers ever. OR Sean Marks who took team without single draft pick and bunch of role players and turned whole thing around in 3 years.
They had cap space and they had picks. They made decision that current team is good enough. Future will tell how right or wrong they are.

[MagicFan101]

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Magic current sucess is built on a shoulders of Vučević, Ross, Dj, Evan and Gordon. Each and every single one of them was there before them.
So how do you know they can build a team when they did nothing in building one but change a coach?

Why are we still doing this? If Vučević had 50 games long injury last year Magic would still be lottery team.
If Ross had 40-50 games injury, odds are, team would still be in lottery.

We Ham made investments with Bamba, Isaac and Fultz and lesser degree Iwundu, Okeke and Frazier but nobody knows outcomes of that results because it's simply too early to tell. But investing money in Ross , Vuc and Gordon they locked core that they didn't draft for long time, allowing themselfs almost no space to operate.

This is not situation like Daryl Morey where guy gets a job and makes trade for future league's' MVP and one of most unstoppable scorers ever. OR Sean Marks who took team without single draft pick and bunch of role players and turned whole thing around in 3 years.
They had cap space and they had picks. They made decision that current team is good enough. Future will tell how right or wrong they are.

The ceiling for our “current success” structure is a quick first round loss. I don’t care about this.

The investments WeHam have made in trying to find a star ... any star at any position ... is what matters. That means Fultz, Isaac and possibly Bamba are what we should care about. AG is a trade piece or very nice complimentary starter.

[VFX]

Not long ago many of us (myself included) were questioning Isaac > DSjr.

With hindsight not yet in our favor but starting to emerge, we can broaden the debate to Isaac+Fultz or DSjr+Simmons+late-1st.

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Instead of being happy about the mainstream media doing a piece on one of the young guys, I guess we should revisit the “never ending posts” you chose bring up.

Well.. if the Fultz trade never happened (or still doesn’t work out) 31 year old DJ Augustine would be Orlando’s primary point guard option for the foreseeable future. Most of the chatter was about the lack of playmakers in the back court, which is still an underlying issue, and the fact that the skill sets weren’t diverse among the forwards.

Would I rather have JI now after all is said and done? Yes. Does that mean the roster still doesn’t have glaring weaknesses that could have been remedied in a 3-4 year window? No.

I’m glad Isaac is intriguing. I’m rooting for him. He’s grown on me as easily one of the more likable players on this roster, and has the highest potential for success.

[MagicFan101]

You’re right about DSJ but I don’t think anyone was upset by the Fultz deal even pepe. So I don’t see why that’d be part of it since everyone would rather have Fultz on here. Maybe I misunderstood

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Instead of being happy about mainstream media doing a piece on one of the young guys, I guess we should revisit the “never ending posts” you chose bring up.

Well.. if the Fultz trade never happened (or still doesn’t work out) 31 year old DJ Augustine would be Orlando’s primary point guard option for the foreseeable future. Most of the chatter was about the lack of playmakers in the back court, which is still an underlying issue, and the fact that the skill sets weren’t diverse among the forwards.

Would I rather have JI now after all is said and done? Yes. Does that mean the roster still doesn’t have glaring weaknesses that could have been remedied in a 3-4 year window? No.

I’m glad Isaac is intriguing. I’m rooting for him. He’s grown on me as easily one of the more likable players on this roster, and has the highest potential for success.

You can’t possibly believe this.

Clearly the Fultz trade impacted all free agent, trade and draft decisions since. A different young PG would have been acquired via one of these routes just as Fultz was.

Fultz had no timetable to return ... until he did and was a full participant. Clearly WeHam and team knew more than they let on to the public and that lead to their decisions which followed.

[pepe1991]

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Magic current sucess is built on a shoulders of Vučević, Ross, Dj, Evan and Gordon. Each and every single one of them was there before them.
So how do you know they can build a team when they did nothing in building one but change a coach?

Why are we still doing this? If Vučević had 50 games long injury last year Magic would still be lottery team.
If Ross had 40-50 games injury, odds are, team would still be in lottery.

We Ham made investments with Bamba, Isaac and Fultz and lesser degree Iwundu, Okeke and Frazier but nobody knows outcomes of that results because it's simply too early to tell. But investing money in Ross , Vuc and Gordon they locked core that they didn't draft for long time, allowing themselfs almost no space to operate.

This is not situation like Daryl Morey where guy gets a job and makes trade for future league's' MVP and one of most unstoppable scorers ever. OR Sean Marks who took team without single draft pick and bunch of role players and turned whole thing around in 3 years.
They had cap space and they had picks. They made decision that current team is good enough. Future will tell how right or wrong they are.

The ceiling for our “current success” structure is a quick first round loss. I don’t care about this.

The investments WeHam have made in trying to find a star ... any star at any position ... is what matters. That means Fultz, Isaac and possibly Bamba are what we should care about. AG is a trade piece or very nice complimentary starter.

But that's not what you said

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

So they know how to construct a team or , like you said now "current success" sctructure is quick first round exit ?
Because you can't have both. You either agree with fact that this current team is their - team and you agreed on mediocrity.
Or you don't agree with mediocrity and that means that they don't know how to build a team with ceiling higher than 1st round exit.

Each and every single team is searching for stars, it's not like they are doing something groundbreaking.
Their bets on stars are Fultz, Isaac and Bamba.
It's on you, as fan, to view them as superstar potential guys or guys with clear liimitations and much lower ceiling.

Whole Isaac - Smith thing and calling out posters is laughable.
Both Isaac and Smith are anything but proven. But one is PG who gets exposed for lack of efficiency because he plays with ball each and every possession. Isaac is even more raw ,but stripped from any real responsability on the floor. His offense is him standing in corner and doing nothing for 95% of time and from time to time some transition dunks. That's it.

If you think Dennis is scrub due two years of low efficiency, go check Westbrook's first two year. Copy past same crap, despite having Durant ( and Harden in second year).

[VFX]

That wasn’t really my point.

I’m more and more thinking back on the never ending posts by a handful of people here about how WeHam has no idea how to construct and team and lack a plan.

That argument never made sense to me as, agree with it or not, their plan was quite obvious to me.

Things are starting to fall into play. Let’s see if it works.

Instead of being happy about mainstream media doing a piece on one of the young guys, I guess we should revisit the “never ending posts” you chose bring up.

Well.. if the Fultz trade never happened (or still doesn’t work out) 31 year old DJ Augustine would be Orlando’s primary point guard option for the foreseeable future. Most of the chatter was about the lack of playmakers in the back court, which is still an underlying issue, and the fact that the skill sets weren’t diverse among the forwards.

Would I rather have JI now after all is said and done? Yes. Does that mean the roster still doesn’t have glaring weaknesses that could have been remedied in a 3-4 year window? No.

I’m glad Isaac is intriguing. I’m rooting for him. He’s grown on me as easily one of the more likable players on this roster, and has the highest potential for success.

You can’t possibly believe this.

Clearly the Fultz trade impacted all free agent, trade and draft decisions since. A different young PG would have been acquired via one of these routes just as Fultz was.

Fultz had no timetable to return ... until he did and was a full participant. Clearly WeHam and team knew more than they let on to the public and that lead to their decisions which followed.

You would think so, but then again I witnessed them forgo addressing the position for multiple drafts, ditch ep with no alternatives, and sign players that couldn’t /can barely stay on nba rosters.

Interesting. So you think WeHam knew he would be out of Philly, they would take a bag of chips for him, and that he’s actually going to recover to a lottery pick? I think you’re giving them too much credit.

Congratulations. We are now officially off topic from celebrating Isaac.