The Orlando Magic announced last week that forward Jonathan Isaac will not play this season as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL. They are hopeful he will be ready for the start of the 2022-23 season, at which point he will have been out for over two full years. On Tuesday, the team said Isaac underwent a minor surgical procedure on his hamstring after suffering an injury during rehabilitation.
"Obviously, this was unexpected," said Magic president Jeff Weltman. "No one will work harder than Jonathan in the goal to return for the start of next season."
Isaac has dealt with injuries throughout his career, but his knee problems started in early 2020, when he had to be stretchered off the court during a game with the Washington Wizards on New Year's Day after suffering a sprain and bone bruise. He was expected to miss the remainder of that season, but due to the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he was ready to go for the restart in the Orlando bubble.
Unfortunately, his return to action did not last long. In just his second game back, against the Sacramento Kings, his knee buckled as he drove to the basket and he collapsed with a torn ACL and meniscal tear. That game was on Aug. 8, 2020, and he has not played since.
"First and foremost, the care of our players will always be our top priority," Weltman said. "We have to remember that Jonathan has missed essentially two years. While it continues to be a day-to-day process for him as he continues to strengthen and condition all aspects of his body, we feel we have reached a point where it would be prudent to say that he will not play this season."
While it made sense that Isaac missed all of last season, which was condensed as the NBA tried to get back to a normal schedule, there was a general expectation he would be able to play this season. He started on-court work back in July, so it seemed to be just a matter of time, but as the months dragged on, the tight-lipped Magic offered few updates on Isaac's progress.
"I understand this can be frustrating to our fans, but Jonathan has worked extremely hard and he is eager to return to game action, which is why we must continue to manage his rehabilitation with the big picture in mind," Weltman said. "Quite frankly, we are just out of time to ramp him up to play in games this season."
Isaac says the situation has indeed been frustrating: "I've been putting in a lot of work and everybody has been working extremely hard to get me to a place of getting closer and closer and we've kind of run out of time with where we are right now. Just looking forward to the summer.
"Seeing the guys play night in and night out, being on the court, working out every day just preparing and trying to get myself there has been grueling," Isaac said. "It's been a lot. I want nothing more than to get on the court and play with my teammates."
The good news is that Isaac did not suffer a setback during this process. Instead, Weltman said the Magic were "recalibrating" the timeline for Isaac based on his previous injury history. And after handing him a four-year, $80 million extension in September, it's clear they still believe in him.
Still, Isaac will have been out for over two years by the time he suits up again next season, and it's fair to wonder what sort of player he'll be after that much time off. Prior to these knee problems, Isaac was showing a lot of promise as a hyper-athletic wrecking ball on the defensive end. Will he still be able to move the same way after these surgeries? If not, can he still be such a high-impact defender that it offsets some of his limitations on offense?
It will be interesting to find out once he's back on the court. The Magic have the second-worst record in the league at 18-52, and are looking at another top-five lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. If they hit on that pick and get Isaac back, they could suddenly have an interesting young group along with the likes of Franz Wagner, Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba.