While he may be years away from reaching his true potential, the Magic are pleased with their Jonathan Isaac pickup in Thursday’s draft, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes.
In order to fully develop the sixth-overall choice, however, Orlando’s new front office will need to avoid some of the mistakes that their predecessors made, namely giving prospects playing time before they earn it.
Robbins adds that president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond should look to add quality players that will be able to compete with Isaac for minutes, something current and past Magic players like Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris and Elfrid Payton could have benefited from over the course of the last few seasons.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- A particularly impressive workout helped Bam Adebayo convince the Heat to take a chance on him with their 14th pick in Thursday’s draft, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. “We had already seen enough after 20 minutes. But he wanted to stay out there. He was the last one in the gym. We notice things like that,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said.
- The Magic would be wise to mind the tone of their fan base and field a decent roster as soon as possible, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes. While a new front office may be just embarking on a five-year tenure with the organization, fans of the franchise have already endured five years of losing seasons.
- On the surface, the Wizards trading for a backup point guard would appear to hurt Tomas Satoransky‘s stock with the franchise but Tim Frazier is a short-term solution, Chase Huges of CSN Mid-Atlantic writes. Satoransky remains the only guard on Washington’s bench signed past 2018/19.
- In a podcast with Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, Wizards point guard John Wall that he’s like to remain with Washington for the rest of his career. The eight-year veteran and All-NBA Third Team guard also says that he still feels as though he’s underrated.
Isaac will be a franchise player 2 years from now, be patient Magic fans.
Just like Aaron Gordon was right
Isaac can already shoot and can switch on to anyone on the court with his length. He coule be like a Rashard Lewis with Kawhi Leonard defense.
Lol kawhi Leonard defense KYS!!
Alright you are laughing but you’ll see.
He needs to bulk up a lot. He’s too light
6-10 205? True, he could ease in off the bench throughout the season but if you are Vogel should make you drool to throw out two athletic monsters like Isaac and Gordon in the starting lineup. I’m fine with Fournier at the 2 since he can shoot and Nikola could start now since the Magic will have defense in the lineup.
I personally think Orlando needs to look to move their bigs. Both Vucevic and Biyombo, if possible. They need guard/wing help, and more shooters. I liked the 2 picks they ended up with, being Isaac, and Iwundu, but they need more obviously. They have Stephen Zimmermann from last year too, so it may be time to just go super young and see what they can do. Keep Fournier and Gordon, and Payton around the young guys, and figure it out from there. The last 2 years, they’ve messed up what they were building so badly, they’re in this position of quasi starting over
What about Vucevic for Rubio?
Lol. Do you think 205 is big enough to be a forward in the NBA? Issac has to hit the weight room hard before he can make an impact in this league, and his shot is still very iffy.
He’ll contribute his first year, I’d say 9-11 ppg
I watched all the top guys this year between 12-15 times each. Isaac jumped out at me immediately, and I was most intrigued by him. Defensively, he already reminds me of Kevin Durant. He uses his length well, and he always knows where to be on the floor. He guarded the pick and roll well, and was able to switch onto perimeter players with no issue. I think he’ll rebound too. Offer sively, he needs to work on his handle, and his aggressiveness to be a scorer, but I think that will come. The range is there on the jumpshot, although I think the consistency will improve there. If he can get better at those things, and maybe get a little stronger, dude reminds me of KD on both sides of the ball. But if the offense doesn’t come, he’ll still be a really good defender that can shoot it
Close minded clowns don’t see that bro. I’m not saying he will be KD or Davis but he will be a mold of Rashard Lewis/ with Chris Bosh instincts on defense.
My only concern with Isaac is the asthma, but I’m confident they’ll put him on a regimen that can control it. But when it is an issue, there’s not much he’ll be able to do, so I hope that doesn’t become something people criticize for
I did not even know about thr asthma.