The Orlando Magic’s active roster entering Tuesday will be their active roster for the remainder of the season. And while the news delivered ahead of the historic 150-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t what they wanted, it’ll ultimately help make things simpler for the next month.
Hours before Magic-Nets tipped, the team confirmed an Orlando Sentinel report earlier in the day that Jonathan Isaac will miss the remainder of the season as he continues to rehab from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the “bubble” on Aug. 2, 2020. Isaac hasn’t played since the injury, making this the second consecutive season he’ll miss.
Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman also announced Bol Bol, who Orlando acquired from the Boston Celtics ahead of the trade deadline, won’t play this season after having right foot surgery on Jan. 18 — three weeks before the deal.
So the players Magic coach Jamahl Mosley had at his disposal Tuesday — outside of Jalen Suggs — will be his roster to finish the season.
That’ll at least make the final 12 games simpler.
“As you lay it out,” Mosley said ahead of Tuesday’s matchup, “you understand exactly what’s going on with the situation.”
For the front office, the absences of the big men — especially Isaac — will make it more challenging to evaluate the roster after neither played with this iteration of the team.
Isaac, the sixth pick in the 2017 draft who’s in the first season of a 4-year, $69.6 million extension he signed in December 2020, only will have played 34 of 227 possible regular-season games since the 2019-20 season.
He had just recovered from a major left knee injury in January 2020 before tearing his ACL during the league’s restart.
Isaac hasn’t been on the floor with most of the Magic’s key young players: Suggs, Cole Anthony, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr., Chuma Okeke and R.J. Hampton.
But evaluating how the players fit next to one another — even with Isaac being absent for most of the last three seasons — is the job the Magic have to face and they’ll have to get it right.
For Isaac and Bol, the next month will give them an opportunity to further evaluate their teammates from the bench.
“Everybody who watches the games regardless of what our record looks like or what the score is on any given night is just excited about the pieces we have,” Isaac said. “Every day I’m thinking about wanting to get on the court and play with them. I’m excited to get it going this summer and continue to build to be ready for next season.”
Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 60 points on 20-of-31 shooting (8 of 12 on 3-pointers and 12 of 13 on free throws) — the most points scored by any player at Amway Center since it opened for the 2010-11 season.
The Nets’ 150 points were the most points the Magic have ever allowed.
Irving’s 60 points are tied for the second-most points the Magic allowed in team history behind Michael Jordan’s 64 on Jan. 16, 1993. Allen Iverson (Feb. 12, 2005) and James Harden (Jan. 30, 2018) also scored 60 points in home wins over the Magic for their respective teams.
Cole Anthony finished with team-highs of 19 points and 7 assists. Wendell Carter Jr. recorded 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Moe Wagner had 17 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
Suggs sat out because of a bone bruise in his right ankle. Suggs had been dealing with a right ankle sprain.
“Giving him some time off in this situation is probably the best thing for him,” Mosley said, “so we don’t have any more reoccurring injuries there.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Khobi Price at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.
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