It only took one quarter of action to start the new year for another injury to strike one of the NBA’s talented young players. Early in the first quarter against the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac fell to the ground and immediately grabbed his left knee after attempting to euro step past Bradley Beal on his way to the basket. 

Isaac remained on the floor for a considerable amount of time as the fans inside Capital One Arena fell silent as he could not get up. Shortly after, Isaac had to be carted off the floor on a stretcher. The Magic announced that Isaac has suffered a hyperextended left knee in the moment, but on Thursday, they added that he had suffered both a posterior lateral corner injury and a bone contusion. He will be re-evaluated in 8-10 weeks, but fortunately, he suffered no damage to his ACL, MCL or PCL ligaments. 

The Magic have long been searching for a star player to build around in order to push themselves into contention in the Eastern Conference. Through the draft, they’ve collected a handful of players who were considered “projects” with the hope that just one of them would become a budding young star with the potential to be the centerpiece of this franchise. Isaac was considered the best bet on this roster, and in his third year in the league, he’s been putting up career numbers to this point. 

Isaac is averaging 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and was seen as a player who could have a breakout year this season. Isaac has the third-highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) on the Magic (17.2) and is tied with Anthony Davis for second in the league in blocks per game (2.5).

Now that Isaac is slated to miss a good chunk of the remainder of the regular season, it’s fair to wonder whether or not the Magic can hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They currently lead the Chicago Bulls for that slot by only two games, and without Isaac, their 11th-ranked defense is going to slip. They will need their 26th-ranked offense to step up if they plan to remain in the playoff picture. Without Isaac, their postseason hopes are looking grim.