Magic Postseason Profile: PF Jonathan Isaac Ready For First Healthy Summer
There wasn't a player on the Orlando Magic that made more money than forward Jonathan Isaac this season.
Wrapping up the second year of a four-year $69 million contract, Isaac garnered a $17.4 million cap hit to Orlando.
To put it in perspective, Isaac raked in more money this season than Rookie of the Year winner Paolo Banchero ($11 million) and forward Franz Wagner ($5.2) combined.
After signing the deal during the shorted 2021 season, Isaac spent the next two years recovering from a torn ACL suffered during the NBA Bubble.
And after 904 days, the dynamic two-way forward returned to the court in front of his home fans to a "surreal" welcome.
In his 11 games this year, there were glimpses of the player that was selected No. 6 in the 2017 NBA Draft - averaging 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
And while Isaac was placed a on a strict minutes restriction - not playing over 17 minutes once - his defense was still apparent in short bursts.
"It felt good just being able to help the team," Isaac said. "I felt really good about where we were before I was playing and obviously when I was playing as well."
Unfortunately, the 25-year-olds return to the court was short lived, suffering a torn adductor muscle in March that ended his campaign.
"When I first got wind of exactly what it was it was like 'oh shoot here we go again," Isaac said. "And then when you get to talk to the doctors, I found out it's a 6-8 week period and then you're back to full strength."
"I've done this before, been there done that, and just attack it day in and day out."
Luckily, Isaac's recovery this time around will be much quicker and he expects to be fully healthy by the start of next season.
"This is the first summer I'm gonna have to fully work," Isaac said. "Every other summer, I've been rehabbing and trying to get back to the court. I'll be hopefully in the next few weeks full-go and ready to just take on the summer with strength and do every I can to have a healthy next season."
And that's great news for Orlando, as the last time the former Florida State product was fully healthy, it appeared they had a Defensive Player of the Year contender for years to come.
And Isaac, along with the entire Magic organization, is ready for that player to make his return.
"I know there's still so much more in me to be able to do," Isaac said. "When I get to a place where this summer I'm 100% ready to go, I think it will be exciting."
You can follow Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard.
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