The way that the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster is currently set up, whenever a power forward becomes available, the potential for them to join Minnesota will be brought up. There’s a clear hole at the position for the Wolves after the club traded away both Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Rudy Gobert, Joan Beringer, and Rocco Zikarsky are strictly centers.
The most recent power forward to enter the open market is Jonathan Isaac, formerly of the Orlando Magic. The team waived him on Saturday. Is Isaac a player that the Timberwolves should look into? Simply put, no.
Isaac’s career has been besieged with injuries
A member of the Wolves’ front office has a history with Isaac. That would be general manager Matt Lloyd, as he was assistant general manager for Orlando at the time Isaac was selected sixth overall by them in 2017. That doesn’t mean that Minnesota automatically will do its due diligence on Isaac, but it’s an interesting tidbit.
Since joining the NBA, the vision was there that Isaac could be an All-Defensive player. Injuries essentially took away his chances of becoming that player, as he missed two full years in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before finally appearing in a game more than halfway through the 2022-23 season. He tore his left ACL in the Florida bubble, and it took two and a half years to get to the point where Isaac could step on the court again.
Isaac isn’t even 30 years old yet, as he will turn 29 on October 3. Still, the question has to be asked: Have the constant knee injuries caused Isaac’s career to be nearly over? He also missed the end of last season with a left knee strain. He appeared in 52 games in 2025-26, averaging career lows across the board in minutes (10.0), points (2.6), and rebounds (2.5).
The Magic waived Isaac, knowing that his $14.5 million contract would become fully guaranteed today (Sunday). By waiving him Saturday, $8 million of that is guaranteed, but there is an option of stretching that money over seven years. Now, if Orlando decides not to use the stretch provision, they could bring back Isaac on a minimum-salary deal after he clears waivers.
If he does become a free agent, I don’t believe that the Timberwolves should be all that interested (Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic seems to have a different opinion). Listed at 6-10, there is a world where Isaac could help Minnesota, particularly on the defensive end.
However, he just can’t be relied upon to play all that much anymore, as last season, he didn’t have one game of at least 17 minutes. The likelihood of Isaac getting hurt during the year is unfortunately very high. It might make more sense to just bring back Kyle Anderson at a minimum-salary contract if he is willing to sign for that amount.
