5:02pm: The Magic have officially signed Isaac to his extension, the team announced in a press release.
4:31pm: Shortly after reaching an agreement on an extension for Markelle Fultz, the Magic have done the same for Jonathan Isaac. Agent Jeff Wechsler tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) that Isaac and the Magic have agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal, which will begin in 2021/22.
Isaac was on his way to a breakout year in 2019/20, having averaged career highs in PPG (11.9), RPG (6.8), BPG (2.3), SPG (1.6), and a handful of other categories in the 34 games (28.8 MPG) he played.
However, a severe left knee sprain and bone bruise sidelined him on January 1, and his comeback effort during the Orlando summer restart was abruptly halted in early August by a torn left ACL.
Despite the fact that Isaac will miss the entire 2020/21 season while rehabilitating that knee injury, the Magic were willing to lock in a new deal for him early, preventing him from reaching restricted free agency in 2021. That signals not only that Orlando views the 23-year-old as an important part of its future, but also that the team feels good about where he’s at in his recovery and rehab process.
While it remains to be seen how Isaac’s offensive game will develop, he’s already one of the NBA’s most talented and versatile defenders when he’s healthy. If he returns to full health and improves on offense, the contract could actually end up being a bargain for the Magic, but it’s still a significant roll of the dice for the club.
Isaac will earn $7.36MM in the final year of his rookie scale contract in 2020/21 before his new deal begins. He’s the eighth player to agree to a rookie scale extension this offseason, narrowly beating Monday’s deadline (5:00pm central time).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Magic gonna magic
Weltman must have put way too much henny in his eggnog. Magic are spending money as if they’re a contending team lol.
But not nearly as much as the Warriors are spending.
Warriors were literally on the verge of becoming a dynasty lol. Magic haven’t won jack.
Warriors stars aren’t divas though…
What does that have to do with this subject lol
Eh, ORL is operating above the cap…as long as they’re under the tax it makes no difference.
Most owners won’t allow GM’s to maximize salary for trade possibilities. DeVos does, essentially has allowed GM to use MLE despite not contending. That’s how they acquired Fultz (by trading J Simmons’ expiring MLE salary as trade ballast).
Aminu was acquired similarly, unfortunately he’s been hurt. But he’ll be back soon and I bet this trade deadline some contender will need a playoff tested 3-D wing that can defend big wings.
In addition, this FO believes that playing in meaningful games (aka playoff runs/playoff games) is the best way to develop young players. It’s how best franchise examples of player development do it (MIA, SAS etc)
FO uses salary to maximize roster floor to ensure their youth are playing in that context.
We barely made the playoffs in the East. Let’s give everyone massive raises and run it back! What could go wrong…
Making kuzmas deal look like a steal
If both Isaac and Kuzma are healthy…I will take Isaac on this contract.
That’s a big IF right now though. The Magic may have just signed Chandler Parsons 2.0.
Good for him. All that and they still have a man crush on Aaron Gordon??? Clueless GM… If only Bamba can get minutes…
Doubling down on bad deals
Hope he gets healthy
Wow. Absolutely great move by the MAGIC.
For the foreseeable future, they’ll have a stronghold on that 9th or 10th spot in the East.
Not such a bad deal when they sell off Fournier and Gordon at the deadline and pair him with Okeke on a rookie deal next year.
Isaac and Okeke have 1 good knee between the two of them. I don’t think that pairing is scaring anyone in the East.
He’s was playing good before he got hurt. He was finally showing that big time talent. Amazing today how players can come back from injuries. Good for him. They paid KD 40 mill to sit a yr. Jonathan has plenty of yrs left.
You gotta resign him if you can. He holds too much value a great player for the Magic.
Crazy risk for Magic when they could’ve just waited and matched an Offer Sheet next offseason or forced Isaac to prove he’s healthy playing on the QO. Didn’t exactly get a discount for this early commit. Similar to the Fultz deal. Perplexing.
It seems desparate… who would bid more in 2021?
Only the spectre of teams chasing anything to spend their saved capspace on could have compelled ORL to do this.