Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
I just cannot quit Aaron Gordon. It could be 2030, with Gordon shooting 28% from deep and running too many pick-and-rolls, and I would still insist he might make the leap at any moment.
Perhaps Gordon hinted at it in 10 games between the All-Star break and the NBA's hiatus, when he averaged 15 points (fourth on the team in that span), nine rebounds, and seven assists -- and hit 56.5% of his 2s. He was pushing the pace after grab-and-go rebounds, spraying dimes in transition, and (sometimes) overpowering suckers in the post:
Give me more of this -- against a like-sized player in T.J. Warren! -- and way fewer bricked fadeaways.
I still remember where I was the moment Frank Vogel, then starting his tenure as Orlando's head coach, told me during an interview he would use Gordon like he had Paul George in Indiana -- i.e., as something close to lead ball handler. It surprised me, and struck me as something a coach might say to placate an ambitious young player.
Orlando last season scored only 0.838 points per possession when Gordon shot out of a pick-and-roll, or dished to a teammate who fired right away -- 205th among 260 players who ran at least 50 such plays, per Second Spectrum. That number has cracked 0.9 only once in Gordon's career, and barely. He just hasn't displayed the jumper or feel to thrive in that role.
You can't blame Gordon for chasing conventional stardom. Most good young players do; Gordon is barely 25. He has never played with an elite or maybe even above-average pick-and-roll maestro. In some past seasons, he could have plausibly talked himself into being Orlando's best player.
The Magic also shoehorned Gordon into a wing role; it is not a coincidence Gordon's best stretch last season came with Jonathan Isaac hurt and Gordon playing power forward. With Isaac out, Gordon stays there.
I have been writing for years that Gordon would find himself when he decided to channel his inner Draymond Green instead of aspiring to be LeBron James. Gordon is already a borderline All-Defensive player capable of guarding any position.
Perhaps that switch flipped before last season's stoppage.
"The challenge for every player is the same: How do you play well and efficiently while the team functions well?" Steve Clifford, Orlando's coach, told ESPN. "For Aaron, that stretch was probably the best he has played."Gordon felt it too. "I found my comfort zone with what [Clifford] wanted me to do," he told ESPN. "Just trying to be a better teammate on the floor, looking to get everyone involved."
Gordon has always been a canny passer in motion -- on the break, and after screening and diving on the pick-and-roll. He whips inside-out dimes when he draws help in the post, though smarter teams won't deploy help until Gordon proves he can punish people consistently. He has fantastic chemistry picking out Terrence Ross on backdoor cuts.
You even see hints of that vision when Gordon slices into an alleyway in the half-court:
Gordon doesn't find many easy drives because defenders ignore him on the perimeter and lay in wait in the paint. Gordon is a career 32% shooter on both 3s and midrangers. With Nikola Vucevic serving as Orlando's main screen-setter, Gordon does not get a ton of chances to wreak havoc as pick-and-roll fulcrum.
That said, a shooting center -- like Vucevic -- is the prototype frontcourt partner for Gordon. Surround him with four shooters, and Gordon can lean into more of an interior role: setting picks, cutting to the rim, crashing the glass. Gordon chilling unguarded along the arc is death for Orlando's offense.
Other teams imagine this Gordon. Several -- maybe as many as 10, maybe more -- called Orlando to express interest in trading for Gordon during the recent transaction period, sources said. Minnesota was one, sources said, and Gordon would fit there in a supporting role alongside high-volume playmakers and one of the greatest shooting bigs ever in Karl-Anthony Towns. How might Gordon look in Portland, playing off two elite guards and a snazzy-passing center in Jusuf Nurkic? What about as the nominal center in small-ball Brooklyn lineups featuring Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and two other perimeter guys?
But Orlando held firm, and Gordon remains. Clifford will urge him to keep pushing the pace, mashing in the post, screening with force, and moving away from the ball. He may not be ready to shift full time into a Draymond-style role, but he experienced the power of it last season. "Some games, I'll still run a lot of pick-and-roll," Gordon said. "Other games, I'll be the glue guy. Whatever it takes to win."
The team still has hopes for Gordon's jumper. "Because he's such a hard worker, I think it's going to happen," Clifford said. "Whether it's this year, next year, whatever, he's going to get to 37% or 38% on 3s."Gordon is also healthy after a series of nagging leg injuries hampered him last season. Just when I think I'm out ...http://insider.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30401182/nba-redeem-team-six-players-ready-bounce-back-season
