Welcome To Orlando #4 6-9 PF Aaron Gordon

[BadMofoPimp]

The main problem with the fans here is that they didn't get to watch a ton of Mass Marketed highlight videos of Gordon like they did Exum.

I blame it on the mock drafts... Gordon and Payton were both guys who had to gradually climb the mock ladder while exum was permanently placed at 4 for the longest time. The second most wanted player on this board was Smart, and he was highly projected to go to us at 2 the season before. Without mocks would most of the fans even have a universal preference on who they wanted at 4? Doubt it...

This is close to the Noel and McLemore hype from last year when Oladipo climbed up the charts in the last two weeks prior to draft.

[p0peye]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

[OrlandO]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Who was best player available?

[MagicStarwipe]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Don't confuse your opinion with Rob's opinion.

[Def Swami]

Aaron Gordon enjoying life as an NBA player.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/peoplemag/status/489922484729556992[/tweet]

[p0peye]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Don't confuse your opinion with Rob's opinion.

I was clearly stating my opinion on how Henny made his choice.

[p0peye]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Who was best player available?

Argument could be made that following few picks were better, time will tell.

[fendilim]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Could'nt agree more.

I think drafting Payton did this draft justice though. Henni knew he could get a steal in Payton at the 12th, so he drafted a wildcard at #4. However, I still have my doubts on drafting a defensive specialist at 4, when I think Henni could have moved down and acquire some assets and still get Gordon.

[p0peye]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Could'nt agree more.

I think drafting Payton did this draft justice though. Henni knew he could get a steal in Payton at the 12th, so he drafted a wildcard at #4. However, I still have my doubts on drafting a defensive specialist at 4, when I think Henni could have moved down and acquire some assets and still get Gordon.

Probably easier said than done. He got the players he wanted, unfortunatly Gordon telegraphed our next move and we lost some assets in the process.

[Melvinlocker]

Problem is in BPA approach. At #4, Gordon probably was not Best Player Available, which is why people feel we could've fared better. However, Henny took Gordon and Payton, as those two probably were Best Pair Available picking at #4 and #12.

Moreso, I'd venture a guess that Henny probably doesn't put much stock into who went at what spot between them and it might not be farfetched to say that, if asked, he would gladly put Payton as more valuable player of the two, now and in the future.

Could'nt agree more.

I think drafting Payton did this draft justice though. Henni knew he could get a steal in Payton at the 12th, so he drafted a wildcard at #4. However, I still have my doubts on drafting a defensive specialist at 4, when I think Henni could have moved down and acquire some assets and still get Gordon.

I have a little problem with that type of thinking. Hennigan said he explored both trading up and trading down scenarios and in the end he stayed put and drafted Gordon. How do we know he wouldn't be drafted by Utah at the very next pick if we had taken Exum? How do we know that Utah would have valued Exum enough to trade extra assets to move up one pick (ditto for any other team who took Gordon). Gordon himself said the night of the draft that he expected to go anywhere from 4-8 in the draft so obviously he was highly valued.

I have also seen others suggest we should have drafted Payton at 4 and picked someone else at 12 or use Afflalo to trade up. If we had gone the first route, we would have ended up with Elfrid and Randle at best (not my cup of tea) and if we went the second route and just use 12 to draft whoever (Adrien Payne or Saric). There is also another path where we draft Payton first, trade Afflalo for Stauskas and drafted whoever was available at 12.

Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier

Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle (no Afflalo or Fournier)

Elfrid, Stauskas, and either Saric or Payne (no Afflalo or Fournier)


In every scenario, you get Elfrid. The difference is the value of the other players who drafted or traded for. Out of Gordon, Saric, Randle and Payne, I'd say Aaron would be the best pick for us and was the person we wanted to target (he was highly valued by other teams as well). Out of Fournier, Afflalo and Stauskas, I think the Fournier fit our team best as he was very young (younger than Dipo), he is on a rookie contract, he is better than Stauskas and fits our timeline and financial situation better than Afflalo.

[Smooth_E]

Watching the Grantland Sacramento Kings War Room episode. As they fill out their big-board, their outsourced analytics team adds the floor and ceiling of each prospect. Our boy Magic Gordon shows up at #7:

Floor: Bad Kirilenko
Ceiling: Blake Griffin

Exum shows up too.



[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEN6ad_Aw-M[/youtube]

[Melvinlocker]

Watching the Grantland Sacramento Kings War Room episode. As they fill out their big-board, their outsourced analytics team adds the floor and ceiling of each prospect. Our boy Magic Gordon shows up at #7:

Floor: Bad Kirilenko
Ceiling: Blake Griffin

Exum shows up too.



[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEN6ad_Aw-M[/youtube]

What I wouldn't give to see their draft board!

[RookieStar]

Aaron Gordon enjoying life as an NBA player.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/peoplemag/status/489922484729556992[/tweet]

uh-oh... he's going like dwight!!!!

[Tayswagzzz]

"Twin's Basil! Twins!" - Austin Powers

Can't say no to twins.

[rb1magicfan]

I think it is crazy Aaron Gordon is not generating more buzz on this this site.I know he did not light it up in summer league although he did play very well in the last 2 games.This guy is a winner and plays so unselfish he reminds me so much of Tim Duncan in the way he talks and plays team first basketball. He is a 5 tool player!!! Do you know how rare that is? He is 18 and needs to sharpen all of his skills.That is great news for magic fans because he will work his but off until he does.Every major tournament or event he comes up huge for his team thus all of these awards.Every fan has the right to their opinion.I just hope all the haters come around fast because we need to support this guy who will be carrying this team to the finals in the next 4 years. If you still do not believe ask everyone in his past who said someone in the class of 2013 was better than him.The prof is in the body of work!

Aaron Gordon Awards and honors

High school
2013: USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year
2013: FIBA Under-19 World Championship MVP
2013: McDonalds High School All-American Game MVP
Jordan Brand All-American (2013)
2× California Mr. Basketball (2012-2013)
2× CIF State Champion (2011-2012)
2× CIF State Division II Champion (2011-2012)
3× CIF Northern California Champion (2011-2013)
CIF Northern California Open Division Champion (2013)
2× CIF Northern California Division II Champion (2011-2012)
4× CIF CCS Champion (2010-2013)
CIF CCS Open Division Champion (2013)
3× CIF CCS Division II Champion (2010-2012)
MaxPreps.com All-American First Team (2013)
San Jose Mercury News Player of the Year (2013)
San Jose Mercury News First Team (2013)
Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area CCS Player of the Year (2013)
6× WCAL Champion (2011, 2011², 2012, 2012², 2013, 2013²)
3× WCAL Playoffs Champion (2011-2013)
3× WCAL Regular Season Champion (2011-2013)
3× Ed Fennelly WCAL Player of the Year Award (2011-2013)
4× All-WCAL Honors
3× All-WCAL First Team (2011-2013)
All-WCAL Second Team (2010)

College
Freshman student-athlete of the year (2014)
Pac-12 Tournament All-tournament team (2014)
AP Honorable Mention (2014)
2014 NCAA Tournament's West Regional all-tournament team (2014)
Individual All-America teams (2014)
Third All-America Team– Sporting News (2014)
USBWA All-District team (2014)
NABC All District Second Team (2014)
All-Pac-12 first team (2014)
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2014)
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (2014)
2013 NIT Season Tip-Off All-Tournament Team (2014)
CBS Sports and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Freshman Of The Week Honors (2014)

[drsd]

I think it is crazy Aaron Gordon is not generating more buzz on this this site.

Today he lacks a jumper to be SF and lacks strength to be a PF. In the same way Orlando transitioned Howard from PF to C, I expect we will see a slow transition of Gordon. At first he will log SF and combo-forward minutes. After a couple years in the gym, he should get to a 240lbs with <8% bod-fat range, as he seems to have the broad shoulders to care that muscle mass. From there he would be a so-called "explosive PF." That puts his game as something like Griffith's. But the lack of buzz is because that is not were Gordon is today and it is not were he will be for several years.

With Harris looking to be developed to a starting SF - why else ink Frye - GM Hennigan must be projecting Gordon at PF. Frye's game allows Gordon about 3 years to develop, and here is hoping that comes to 2-years.

I for one am very excited about the idea of the starting 2016/17 roster as:
Payton/Oladipo/Harris/Gordon/Vučević
That looks to be a pass-oriented team with oddles of defense and rebounding. It is explosive and has scoring from 3-4 slots.
Gordon's roll with those five looks to be as a screen setter and as the back-end of alley oop passes. He really does not need more than a 12/8 line to be competent with those starters.


..

[tiderulz]

I think it is crazy Aaron Gordon is not generating more buzz on this this site.I know he did not light it up in summer league although he did play very well in the last 2 games.This guy is a winner and plays so unselfish he reminds me so much of Tim Duncan in the way he talks and plays team first basketball. He is a 5 tool player!!! Do you know how rare that is? He is 18 and needs to sharpen all of his skills.That is great news for magic fans because he will work his but off until he does.Every major tournament or event he comes up huge for his team thus all of these awards.Every fan has the right to their opinion.I just hope all the haters come around fast because we need to support this guy who will be carrying this team to the finals in the next 4 years. If you still do not believe ask everyone in his past who said someone in the class of 2013 was better than him.The prof is in the body of work!

Aaron Gordon Awards and honors

High school
2013: USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year
2013: FIBA Under-19 World Championship MVP
2013: McDonalds High School All-American Game MVP
Jordan Brand All-American (2013)
2× California Mr. Basketball (2012-2013)
2× CIF State Champion (2011-2012)
2× CIF State Division II Champion (2011-2012)
3× CIF Northern California Champion (2011-2013)
CIF Northern California Open Division Champion (2013)
2× CIF Northern California Division II Champion (2011-2012)
4× CIF CCS Champion (2010-2013)
CIF CCS Open Division Champion (2013)
3× CIF CCS Division II Champion (2010-2012)
MaxPreps.com All-American First Team (2013)
San Jose Mercury News Player of the Year (2013)
San Jose Mercury News First Team (2013)
Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area CCS Player of the Year (2013)
6× WCAL Champion (2011, 2011², 2012, 2012², 2013, 2013²)
3× WCAL Playoffs Champion (2011-2013)
3× WCAL Regular Season Champion (2011-2013)
3× Ed Fennelly WCAL Player of the Year Award (2011-2013)
4× All-WCAL Honors
3× All-WCAL First Team (2011-2013)
All-WCAL Second Team (2010)

College
Freshman student-athlete of the year (2014)
Pac-12 Tournament All-tournament team (2014)
AP Honorable Mention (2014)
2014 NCAA Tournament's West Regional all-tournament team (2014)
Individual All-America teams (2014)
Third All-America Team– Sporting News (2014)
USBWA All-District team (2014)
NABC All District Second Team (2014)
All-Pac-12 first team (2014)
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2014)
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (2014)
2013 NIT Season Tip-Off All-Tournament Team (2014)
CBS Sports and U.S. Basketball Writers Association Freshman Of The Week Honors (2014)

Honor roll and Student Athlete of the year has zero translation to being a successful NBA player.
As for 5-tool player, what exactly are those 5 tools you are referring to? If it is the traditional definition, then he isnt, as he cant shoot jumpers right now and will have problem creating his own shot.

As for being a winner? he is 18, did he lead his team to a title in college? no. So how exactly is he a winner? now he is a winner in life as he is now a multi-millionaire. As for sharpening his skills, he needs to do this but yes, he is 18 years old and people need to really give him a couple of years to see what he can really turn into. Big men take longer to develop than normal. We have to hope he has the mindset to get better, but I knew plenty of people that were hard workers in high school that became slackers in their 20's and they didnt have millions of dollar to distract them.

Gordon isnt creating buzz because he is a project player that is not going to have immediate impact. Thats okay, his end result may turn out to be great, but that is the main reason he isnt creating buzz.

[RYgoBOOM]

As much as people say he won't I still see Gordon having an impact from day one.

He's the type of guy to bust his ass, play to his strengths, and earn minutes progressively over the course of the season.

[tiderulz]

As much as people say he won't I still see Gordon having an impact from day one.

He's the type of guy to bust his ass, play to his strengths, and earn minutes progressively over the course of the season.

is he though? People thought that about Moe, and then Moe comes out and practically demands to be a starter to have any type of impact. And he doesnt bust his ass every time he is on the court. Just saying, these are 18 yr olds without much a track record you can point to and say "this is how he will ....."

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since we dont know yet.

[RYgoBOOM]

As much as people say he won't I still see Gordon having an impact from day one.

He's the type of guy to bust his ass, play to his strengths, and earn minutes progressively over the course of the season.

is he though? People thought that about Moe, and then Moe comes out and practically demands to be a starter to have any type of impact. And he doesnt bust his ass every time he is on the court. Just saying, these are 18 yr olds without much a track record you can point to and say "this is how he will ....."

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt since we dont know yet.

I literally have no idea what is up with Moe. I was a huge huge supporter of him as he showed glimpses of something special. The games against the Thunder and Knicks pop into my head instantly. But I still don't understand why he disappears. I want to say it could be due to Davis/AA/Nelson always being so ball dominant and he never felt like part of an actual offense, but who knows.

I see a fire in AG that I deff do not see in Moe. Aaron has already excelled on the highest stages he's been on as well. I don't think Moe had as much success in HS and college as AG did.

We will obviously have to wait and see but I see both of them as completely different animals.


One thing I do know is I want to see lineups featuring Tobias+Gordon and Moe+Frye. Both of these combos compliment each other perfectly. Those 2 pairs of guys being on the court at the same time IMO will be huge for us.