Is this the year that the Magic finally crawl their way out of the mud pit that they’ve been inhabiting the past few years and end up with a winning record? We have been fooled before. They have made previous runs like this only to collapse under the weight of their own suckitude. I have very little confidence that what we’re seeing (somewhat competent basketball being played by the Orlando Magic franchise) is sustainable, but it could be.
A lot of hope for this season was pinned on Jonathan Isaac, with the fanbase hoping for him to follow the Giannis career trajectory and not the Bruno career trajectory. When a team is bad, fanbases tend to overvalue their young talent just so they don’t get intrusive suicidal thoughts. But the team is good (maybe) on the strength of their already established “core”, so Isaac being a whole lot nothing isn’t concerning to them at the moment.
Isaac has flashed some stuff this year, but his jumper is still super funky and his offense in general isn’t that great. But he’s long, springy, and nimble, so he can impact things on the defensive end when his shot isn’t falling (which it never is). Overall, he’s playable, and that’s what you want from your 6th overall pick, definitely.