Giannathan Isaactetokounmpo is simply a project worth waiting for. Jonathan committed to the defensive-anchor role for a Florida State team where Isaac got the majority of his points off of fastbreaks, off-ball cuts and staying within the gameplan: A spread-iso attack around guards Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Dwayne Bacon driving and kicking. Take a look at the block party Jonathan hosted for Notre Dame back in January on his home floor, and watch Isaac deflect the credit for victory to his team’s depth in the post-game interview.

Sometimes team-first players aren’t ball-stopping, ego=driven “me me me” guys.

Could Jonathan have been more assertive scoring the ball? Sure, but with a rotation of twelve players in an offense where he’s at least the third option, half-court opportunities with the ball in Isaac’s hands were hard to come by. For all of the negative talking points about Jonathan’s lack of a “mamba mentality” and critics calling out Isaac for not having that “hates to lose more than he likes to win” edge, Isaac still had plenty of stat-sheet filling games where everything seemed to click. Inconsistency on the offensive side of the ball is Isaac’s biggest weakness, along with overall strength; to ever become a superstar, he’ll obviously have to work on both. Most players find their NBA bodies in years 3–5 after acclimation to the league’s speed, schedule, and intensity.

It should be noted that, although Jonathan is currently 6'10", Isaac had a late growth spurt that brought him up seven inches from the role of point guard his freshmen year in high school to a wing in college, with doctors saying he may still even be growing… let me repeat: SEVEN INCHES!?! Growth spurts of this magnitude are reminiscent of the positional changes Anthony Davis and Antetokounmpo went through as they saw their bodies grow while still developing ball-skills on the hardwood. Nowadays, true superstars like the two mentioned come out to play every night in the association; a franchise cornerstone is expected to not only show up, but to show out for all 82 games every year. Did Jonathan find a 5th gear in every game Florida State played this year? Not always on offense, but Isaac consistently impacted the game defensively when his shot wasn’t falling. That said, for every few games where JIsaac “only showed up” on defense, he’d have another highlight performance on the same level as any elite scorer. Watch Jonathan Isaac’s Florida State Seminoles beat down Dennis Smith Jr.’s NC State team by 24 points marked by a smooth fade-away before a monster put-back slam from JIsaac at the 1:00 minute mark: