Jonathan Isaac‘s 2022/23 season is over after just 11 games, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Magic forward underwent season-ending surgery on Friday to repair a torn left adductor muscle.
The Magic have put out a press release confirming the news (Twitter link). According to the team, Isaac felt discomfort on Tuesday and an MRI on Wednesday revealed the full extent of the injury.
It’s the latest injury in what has been a brutal run of health luck for Isaac, who missed two-and-a-half seasons while recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in the Disney World bubble in 2020.
The 25-year-old made his season debut on January 23, playing for the first time since August 2, 2020. However, a little over a month later, he has once again gone under the knife and faces a lengthy recovery process.
“Our thoughts are with Jonathan, whose fortitude in dealing with adversity is unique,” president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said in a statement. “Jonathan has worked extremely hard to return to the court this season and has demonstrated his impact on our team. We will be by his side as he focuses on the work ahead.”
Prior to his ACL injury, Isaac was emerging as one of the NBA’s most talented, versatile defenders, averaging 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals per game in 34 contests (28.8 MPG) during the 2019/20 season. He flashed that defensive upside a little this season, but played a very modest role in his 11 appearances, logging just 11.3 minutes per night. He averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in his limited action.
Isaac is under contract for two more seasons beyond this one, but his $17.6MM cap hit for 2023/24 is only partially guaranteed (for $7.6MM) and his $17.6MM salary for ’24/25 isn’t guaranteed at all.
While it’s possible the 6’11” forward will make a full recovery from this latest injury and reestablish himself as a reliable rotation player next season, he certainly can no longer be viewed as a lock to finish out his current contract due to his growing injury history.
Geeeezzzzz ……… “NBA injuryreport”
No luck.
this guy can’t catch a break
That’s not true, he’s been pretty well broken the past 3 years
I wish I couldn’t catch a break like Jonathan Isaac. Dude is literally on pace to make $6.3M per game played over a 4 year contract, which would be, BY FAR, an NBA record.
I said he was going to play less games than millions paid. Magic are so bad at contracts and roster evaluation.
Eh, they were rebuilding. Not a big deal to keep him on the books.
Next year is a different story, though. I imagine they’ll have to waive him.
They could trade him in the way Gallo got traded last year. In the off-season only the guaranteed part is considered for deals.
yes. let’s trade one of the best defensive players in the league at his absolute lowest trade value.
dude.. stick to your day job.
LMAO!!! Dude, whatever your day job is, I hope this isn’t remotely close to it, stick to that. And if this *IS* your day job, you should definitely find something you’re competent in.
6 seasons in the league
147 games played
1 season with 35+ games played
0 NBA All-Defensive team selections
1 (ONE) career NBA All-Defensive vote (2019-2020)
Someone like you is how the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest was won by someone who’s not even an NBA player…
Teams were interested in him at the deadline, but they were dead set on his value being roughly commensurate to what it was on New Year’s Eve 2019. A FRP for a guy who hasn’t played in 2 1/2 years and can’t stay healthy? Oh, and you aren’t willing to take on a bad contract? Hard pass. Equal value for Jonathan Isaac is Davis Bertans. Availability is the best ability.
Plainly speaking, this injury tanked and cemented Isaac’s value to that of salary fill. He has no trade value, and even if he makes a successful comeback at the start of next season, no one will offer you anything of value for him, except to get off a bad contract, because he just can’t stay healthy. You got stuck holding the bag because you refused to let anyone take the bag off your hands, that’s on you.
Magic are going to be very good, very soon,
yeah man… that wendell carter contract is terrible. so were the banchero and wagner draft picks and the trade for fultz. please share more of your genius with us!
You should stop before someone comes around and analyzes your terrible sports takes. So where are the Magic with all these supposedly wonderful roster moves?? Oh 4th out of 5th in there division? After 2 consecutive seasons finishing dead last?
Markell Fultz was acquired for a 2019 2nd and a 2020 FRP. When the 2019 #33 overall pick was used, Daniel Gafford and Terance Mann were still available. The 2020 FRP was used on Tyrese Maxey. If you’re trying to tell everyone that you’d rather have Fultz than Maxey, that’s fine, but if you think you’d rather have Fultz than Maxey & Mann, you’re off your rocker.
I’ll give them credit. The Magic did a good job of selling Vucevic for Carter, Wagner (via FRP) and getting another FRP. However, Banchero? They could have traded down and gotten their choice of Jalens and still been able to get Kessler. And Kessler + Duren/Williams > Banchero.
I see you intentionally didn’t mention Cole Anthony, because why would you be objective in your analysis, when you can just tell the narrative you want instead…
obviously he needed more management of his load
Time for Orlando to move on from this guy.
he was dominant on the defensive end in the 11 games he played. shooting great. and you want to get rid of him when he has zero worth on the trade market with his contract.
i say to another of you… stick to your day job.
Can’t make the club in the tub.
This is the rare circumstance where a guy with zero worth on the trade market and 11 games played, being cut is not really all that much different from keeping him. Are you really choosing this hill to die on? You should stick to your day job but it seems the only thing you’re capable of is low hanging fruit NBA takes.
Talented player and it sucks to see him being limited by injuries.
Sucks.
Have to feel bad for a guy that worked so hard to come back.
Abductor? Hardly knew her!
My sides! literally
To he honest with Paulo and Franz locking up the forward spots in Orlando he didn’t really have a path to playing time anyways
Yeah, so he might as well be in constant pain.
wrong. he was playing great in his 10-15 minutes a night and was gonna get more as his conditioning sharpened.
I didn’t say he was playing bad. He’s a fine player. I just think the Magic’s front court is set now for the future.
there’s never not room for a guy who is always an absolutely dominant defensive player who can also contribute on the offensive end when that guy is healthy. Isaac, if and when he is healthy, can contribute to any team, even one as loaded in the frontcourt as the magic are.
Unlucky talented player. But why some people hate him and call him crazy? He not deserve for it
People can’t handle certain things
If he just played two yrs. He’d probably get a nice big 4-5 yr contract. Guaranteed ……
So yeeess I’d say he has no luck.
Orlando needs to trade this guy and suggs and find a elite SG.
Trade Wendel for a different center