Jonathan Isaac ran for the first time since Jan. 1 this week

[The Effect]

We all love JI but while falling down the YouTube rabbit hole I came across a couple of profiles of his defensive impact. He's freaking amazing and while no one's completely untouchable, he's got to be pretty close based on his DPOY (I won't even call it potential).

His highlight reel is like the defense version of a Jason Williams highlight reel-looks like the greatest PG ever.

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), i dont see how a guy with even less of an offensive game and a long injury history, would be considered untouchable

JI is a very nice piece to have, but i wouldnt say untouchable, and ill be in the minority and say hes not worthy of a max (yes i know he'll get one, but i dont think he should) right now because of the 2 issues i mentioned.

[drsd]

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), ....

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?



..

[MagicFan101]

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), ....

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?
..

500% No. Way. Never. Going. To. Happen.

Why would you even ask this??

[j-ragg]

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), ....

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?



..

We wouldn’t be allowed to offer him the super max.

We could offer him the max if we had the space (which we surely wouldn’t).

This idea is terrible but sounds like one Hammond could entertain.

[PrimeThyme]

Pairing Gobert next to Isaac sounds great in a vacuum. But when you consider the fact we have 100m invested into Vuc and just spent a top 6 pick on his backup, it's not even up for debate how bad of an idea trading for him would be.

[Dubious Kitty]

We need damn offense, not defensive guys like Gobert...the only reason the Utah team when works is because of their wing offense paired with Gobert. Without guys like Mitchell they’d be in the lottery

[Bensational]

We don't need Gobert, we've got Isaac AND Bamba.

Cliff has hardly played them together (injuries don't help) but in the small amount they played together this season their lineups did well across the board.

They're mostly 2nd unit lineups, largely paired with Ross and Augustin who carry the offensive load.

Against starters we will want some higher level scoring threats to partner with them, of similar capabilities. Fultz plus a couple of wings like Ross, but who can score off the dribble more from range.

Their top 3 lineups with Fultz are very strong, too.

Fournier is a good fit for that group. Someone like Hield, Beal, or CJ could be an upgrade. Okeke projects to be a good fitting 3.

Neismith and Lewis would be good fits as draft prospects, too.

But - we likely won't see those guys share the court much more for another season or two, until Vuc is moved. It's annoying, because a quality veteran SG or SF would stabilise those lineups as much as Vuc does, and he has the only 'star-sized' contract on the team. If we wanted to consolidate Vuc + Gordon, there's only one more season to get it done. Hopefully we get active this summer.

[drsd]

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), ....

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?
..

500% No. Way. Never. Going. To. Happen.

Why would you even ask this??

It was a rhetoric as to why:
a) it is impossible for Orlando Cap wise and b) it is not a good investment.
Gobert's next contract I predict will emerge as an albatross for Utah. Orlando should have ZERO interest in a player of Gorbert's talent making a salary line ABOVE James and Curry. It is ridiculous to fathom. But that is what it means to be a Jazz fan today.

This idea is terrible but sounds like one Hammond could entertain.

Why would you think this?

Gorbert does not have the skill set that Orlando management has prioritized, in my opinion.

[drsd]

Back to Isaac: I am curious to see how his next tract evolves. What is his value? Is it mini-max? Is it mid range starter?

I see nothing less than a 100M 4-year deal.

[zaymon]

Back to Isaac: I am curious to see how his next tract evolves. What is his value? Is it mini-max? Is it mid range starter?

I see nothing less than a 100M 4-year deal.

I think Hollinger estimated his value around 25M/ year, but i really hope we will get a discount.

[j-ragg]

Why would you think this?

Gorbert does not have the skill set that Orlando management has prioritized, in my opinion.

[MagicFan101]

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?
..

500% No. Way. Never. Going. To. Happen.

Why would you even ask this??

It was a rhetoric as to why:
a) it is impossible for Orlando Cap wise and b) it is not a good investment.
Gobert's next contract I predict will emerge as an albatross for Utah. Orlando should have ZERO interest in a player of Gorbert's talent making a salary line ABOVE James and Curry. It is ridiculous to fathom. But that is what it means to be a Jazz fan today.

This idea is terrible but sounds like one Hammond could entertain.

Why would you think this?

Gorbert does not have the skill set that Orlando management has prioritized, in my opinion.

Not only is a super max to Gobert a very iffy move in general for any NBA team (including the Jazz), but even if Orlando had the cap space to sign him we just don’t have the roster for him. We should need to gut out big man rotation and somehow still add that star scoring guard to compliment him.

Once you see the entire picture you have to circle back to the initial stance that he isn’t a talent at position truly worthy of such a deal where I repeat ... why even bother asking this?

[Def Swami]

Back to Isaac: I am curious to see how his next tract evolves. What is his value? Is it mini-max? Is it mid range starter?

I see nothing less than a 100M 4-year deal.

I think Hollinger estimated his value around 25M/ year, but i really hope we will get a discount.

Jaylen Brown re-signed with the Celtics last year for $115 million/4 years after a season averaging 13 ppg/4 rpg/1 apg and played in 74 games. It was paying off in a big way for the Celtics. Brown took a big leap this year in his role and production while also IMPROVING his efficiency. He went 20 ppg/6 rpg/2 apg on 49/38/73 splits.

Isaac at $100 mill/4 years would be tied with Vucevic for highest paid player on the team. Something about paying Isaac the highest on the team without showing the chops to be a lead guy on a team and his injury history sits awkwardly with me. I can buy the argument that he's the most valuable player on the team or as valuable as Vucevic. But, I think it speaks more to how fundamentally flawed our team is if our two highest paid players are probably not top 2 players on most playoff teams. The Brown contract doesn't look as pretty if his efficiency and production doesn't improve like it did. Brown's per 36 minute stats have always been better than Isaac's. So his production going up with more minutes wasn't too astounding, but his 3 point shooting becoming very good was a huge boon for the Celtics.

$100 million/4 years for Isaac is a bet that he's going to get better, which is a bet that I'd rather make than Vucevic leading the team to deep playoff runs or Aaron Gordon developing into an all-star, Evan Fournier learning to pass, or Markelle Fultz finding himself again. Isaac's value is probably in the tier that Brown's was last year. It's probably going to look more awkward without a Kemba Walker or Jayson Tatum level talent surrounding the roster. The Magic will eventually have to move some players around to make the room for Isaac's contract, especially with the salary cap to likely be lower over the next 2 seasons (that will also assuredly impact Isaac's overall contract, which will likely be less than the $100 million we are talking about).

[PrimeThyme]

I'd have no issue with that kind of contract for Isaac if it wasn't for the injury history. He was showing this year that he will at some point be a DPOY candidate and a perennial all-defensive type player. I just don't think he or Fultz has shown enough health-wise to get those kinds of contracts yet.

I'd prefer both to hit restricted free agency so that we can buy some time and see if they can remain healthy. The positive risk of them developing into stars and earning more money is a risk i'd rather take than them signing a big contract beforehand and getting injured again.

[pepe1991]

Pointless to talk about $$$ when in times nobody has clear idea what salary cap will look like going forward.

[jezzerinho]

Well you can certainly talk about % of the cap you dedicate to a player.

[basketballRob]

When Isaac and Fultz get new contracts they'll get more usage. Coaches like Clifford always seem to find more usage for players going into a contract year too.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[EasternMagic]

We all love JI but while falling down the YouTube rabbit hole I came across a couple of profiles of his defensive impact. He's freaking amazing and while no one's completely untouchable, he's got to be pretty close based on his DPOY (I won't even call it potential).

His highlight reel is like the defense version of a Jason Williams highlight reel-looks like the greatest PG ever.

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), i dont see how a guy with even less of an offensive game and a long injury history, would be considered untouchable

JI is a very nice piece to have, but i wouldnt say untouchable, and ill be in the minority and say hes not worthy of a max (yes i know he'll get one, but i dont think he should) right now because of the 2 issues i mentioned.

While I won't flat out say that calling JI injury prone is wrong, you do have to factor in the types of injuries that he's sustained. Year one's ankle injuries, okay ya, you can probably chalk those up to him being rail thin and not having an NBA body. However, this year's knee injury was a bit more fluke-y. By that I mean, any player in that situation would have sustained a similar, if not a worse injury. I wouldn't file this year's injury in the "this guy's body is just too fragile for the NBA" folder.

Again, yes, he's missed well over half of the games in 2 of his first three seasons due to injury, so it's hard to conclude that he's not injury-prone. But his sustainability seemed to be on the rise after year one, and I don't think this year's wild knee injury is cause for too much concern just quite yet.

[EasternMagic]

Back to Isaac: I am curious to see how his next tract evolves. What is his value? Is it mini-max? Is it mid range starter?

I see nothing less than a 100M 4-year deal.

I think Hollinger estimated his value around 25M/ year, but i really hope we will get a discount.

Jaylen Brown re-signed with the Celtics last year for $115 million/4 years after a season averaging 13 ppg/4 rpg/1 apg and played in 74 games. It was paying off in a big way for the Celtics. Brown took a big leap this year in his role and production while also IMPROVING his efficiency. He went 20 ppg/6 rpg/2 apg on 49/38/73 splits.

Isaac at $100 mill/4 years would be tied with Vucevic for highest paid player on the team. Something about paying Isaac the highest on the team without showing the chops to be a lead guy on a team and his injury history sits awkwardly with me. I can buy the argument that he's the most valuable player on the team or as valuable as Vucevic. But, I think it speaks more to how fundamentally flawed our team is if our two highest paid players are probably not top 2 players on most playoff teams. The Brown contract doesn't look as pretty if his efficiency and production doesn't improve like it did. Brown's per 36 minute stats have always been better than Isaac's. So his production going up with more minutes wasn't too astounding, but his 3 point shooting becoming very good was a huge boon for the Celtics.

$100 million/4 years for Isaac is a bet that he's going to get better, which is a bet that I'd rather make than Vucevic leading the team to deep playoff runs or Aaron Gordon developing into an all-star, Evan Fournier learning to pass, or Markelle Fultz finding himself again. Isaac's value is probably in the tier that Brown's was last year. It's probably going to look more awkward without a Kemba Walker or Jayson Tatum level talent surrounding the roster. The Magic will eventually have to move some players around to make the room for Isaac's contract, especially with the salary cap to likely be lower over the next 2 seasons (that will also assuredly impact Isaac's overall contract, which will likely be less than the $100 million we are talking about).

Yes, I think that the biggest pitfall to Isaac's potential, outside of his injuries, is the fact that WeltHam has, so far, failed to build a cohesive roster.

I'm hopeful for Isaac's development, but he's going to have to prove himself to be more sustainable and more offensively efficient before I'd be comfortable ponying up a $100 mill+ contract for him. He's got some time to get there.

[The Effect]

I dont know, Gobert is maybe the best defensive big since Dwight, and even before the corona incident, i heard rumors of him being on the block, so if hes available via trade (not saying for us, but in general), ....

Gobert is eligible for a super-Max. My question to you, should Orlando invest 40M+ a year for him on a five-year deal?



..

of course not, and my point wasnt that we should trade gobert for JI, what im saying is that the best defensive player in the league is available for trade, so to say JI is untouchable is farfetched

And before you ask, no i wouldnt give JI the max, let alone the super max. He hasnt shown he can stay healthy for any long period of time dating back to college (maybe longer, didnt look into it)