By John Wetzel, Sports Talk Philly staff
Jonathan Isaac is my draft crush this season. I'm not sure which one I'd pick if he and Josh Jackson were available, but if the draft were today I think I'd lean Isaac.
Isaac is a 6'11" 205 pounder with a 7'1" wingspan. The 19 year old played mostly small forward, but also some power forward at FSU. Isaac brings so much to the table, I really struggle to understand why some boards have him ranked outside of the top five. He's a jack of all trades, master of none type player. He does everything well, but doesn't quite wow you in one area. But if you talk about traits, you'd love Isaac. He's big, he's long, he's got a handle, he can shoot from the outside, he can win on isolation, he can rebound and he could bring elite defense to the NBA.
With the Sixers already having a big, athletic lineup. Adding Isaac would make it even more difficult for opposing coaches to matchup against them. With most of the NBA going small to create mismatches, they would dig themselves into a hole if they played the Sixers. Teams would either have to sub out their undersized players or leave a mismatch on the floor for either Simmons and/or Isaac.
If you look at the flip side of it, the Sixers would matchup very well to other teams defensively. By adding Isaac, you would also be adding a very valuable piece in today's NBA in a big bodied isolation scorer stopper. In order to beat the Cavs, Warriors or Spurs, you would have to be able to stop Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard. Most teams aren't able to do this because they don't have a player to match the size and athleticism of James, Durant, or Leonard. Not only would Isaac help out in this regard, but Simmons and RoCo would also be able to hold up pretty well. On defense, teammates have to switch who their guarding all the time so versatility is needed.
Isaac played a lot of off ball wing at FSU and I think that's what he's best at. His outside shot looks smooth and effortless and looks to be able to translate well to the NBA. He has a good handle for someone his size which allows him to create space in the mid-range or get into the paint where he dominates because of his length. This works out perfectly for the Sixers as he would be able to create baskets for himself and also space the floor, which is what the Sixers want in order to help out their young point guard in Ben Simmons.
You could argue that the taking Isaac doesn't make sense because that would leave a hole at shooting guard and you already have Covington to play small forward. However, the only shooter that could sneak into the Sixers draft conversations is Malik Monk, but right now isn't the right time to draft need over talent, especially with a talent like Isaac available. Drafting Monk would fill the Sixers biggest need, but leave more needs open that Isaac would've been able to fill. It would be better to draft Isaac and address the need at shooting guard through free agency or next years draft as the Sixers have a potential lottery pick in an unprotected Lakers pick and their own pick.
As for the Covington argument, I view Isaac as an upgrade over Covington and having both of them would give you outstanding depth moving forward. Being able to go from Isaac to RoCo isn't much of a drop off and would pay dividends over the corse of a season and in the playoffs where the bench really shortens. Having Isaac would also give them leverage in contract talks with RoCo as his free agency approaches at the end of the 2018 season.
Isaac won't be hoisting up the MVP trophy anytime soon, but he'll get the Sixers a whole lot closer to that championship trophy.
