ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic waived forward Jonathan Isaac, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced, ending a nine-year tenure defined as much by devastating injuries as by the 6-foot-10 defender’s tantalizing potential.
Isaac, 28, played in just 52 games last season, averaging 2.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 10.0 minutes per game — a diminished role for a player Orlando selected sixth overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. He did not appear in the playoffs due to a left knee strain, the latest in a series of lower-body injuries that consumed the prime of his career.
Across 328 career regular-season games — 109 of them starts — all with the Magic, Isaac averaged 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.19 blocks in 18.8 minutes per game. He also appeared in 17 career playoff outings with eight starts, averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 20.8 minutes per game. His 391 career blocked shots rank sixth on Orlando’s all-time list.
Isaac (6'10", 240 pounds, born Oct. 3, 1997) arrived in Orlando as a long, switchable defender out of Florida State with the tools to anchor a frontcourt for a decade. A torn ACL during the 2020 NBA bubble in nearby Lake Buena Vista sidelined him for more than two full seasons, and subsequent knee issues limited him to a reserve role even after his return.
Off the court, Isaac became one of the NBA’s most prominent conservative voices, publishing a book and speaking publicly on faith and cultural issues — a profile that drew national attention but did not insulate him from the roster calculus facing a Magic team that reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons and is building around younger, healthier pieces.
The waiver clears Isaac’s roster spot ahead of the NBA’s free-agency period, which opens next week.