The Magic announced Tuesday that Isaac (knee) will remain out for the rest of the 2021-22 season. "First and foremost, the care of our players will always be our top priority," president of basketball operations Jeff 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. Quite frankly, we are just out of time to ramp him up to play in games this season."

EDGE Analysis

Given that the season ends in three and a half weeks, the announcement shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The Magic have provided few updates on Isaac's status since he initially tore the ACL in his left knee all the way back in August 2020 in the NBA bubble in Orlando. But with nothing left to play for in 2021-22, there's no reason for the team to push Isaac back into game action before he's 100 percent ready. Barring any setbacks over the next several months, Isaac should be back in full capacity to begin the 2022-23 season, as he told Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel that he's been taking part in half-court contact drills but hasn't yet advanced to full-court contact work. By the time he takes the floor, it will be well over two full calendar years since his last NBA appearance.