Who should be our starting SG and SF over the next 3+ years?

[Bensational]

I still cannot fathom Gordon playing SF. He doesn't dribble good enough, pass good enough, shoot good enough as a SF. He can only play great defense at the SF position. It is like people only see Athleticism and his Defense then assume he should be a SF. The game is much more complex than that.

IMO, he dribbles good enough and passes good enough. He doesn't shoot good enough. I'll give you that.

He doesn't dribble good enough to drive to the hoop like other SF's do or good enough for opposing SF's that he will play good defense against him.

He is good enough against opposing PF's tho.

Pfffffft. He dribbles well. His handles are one of his strengths. He's shown it plenty.

Skiles just had no imagination or trust when it came to Gordon. How can anyone believe that Gordon couldn't get to the rim with just a little separation from a PnR? He already gets deep lane penetration without picks.

Vogel is gonna have Gordon and Hezonja playing more point forward like Paul George and Lance Stephenson, IMO.

[Darth Magic]

From looking at the poll, I'm actually surprised at the high number of votes for Gordon as our starting SF. Would love to hear more from those 17 people who voted him there. Maybe I shouldn't give up hope there...?

The thing people forget about the NBA sometimes is that it is not your offensive game that determines your position as much as it is the position you defend. For example, Hedo was for all intents and purposes the Orlando Magic's point guard offensively. But he defended the small forward position. To me, Gordon is a much better defender on the perimeter than in the post. On the wing he is a defensive nightmare every night, in the post he can hold his own but doesn't have an advantage. On the offensive end i believe he can improve his ball handling and shooting enough to play on the wing.

[fendilim]

Fournier at 2 and Hezonja at 3.

got Ola off the bench, so that he can maintain that energy for the 2nd unit.

[fendilim]

IMO, he dribbles good enough and passes good enough. He doesn't shoot good enough. I'll give you that.

He doesn't dribble good enough to drive to the hoop like other SF's do or good enough for opposing SF's that he will play good defense against him.

He is good enough against opposing PF's tho.

Pfffffft. He dribbles well. His handles are one of his strengths. He's shown it plenty.

Skiles just had no imagination or trust when it came to Gordon. How can anyone believe that Gordon couldn't get to the rim with just a little separation from a PnR? He already gets deep lane penetration without picks.

Vogel is gonna have Gordon and Hezonja playing more point forward like Paul George and Lance Stephenson, IMO.

Other than his dribbling, what do you think his advantages are as sf?

[Bensational]

He doesn't dribble good enough to drive to the hoop like other SF's do or good enough for opposing SF's that he will play good defense against him.

He is good enough against opposing PF's tho.

Pfffffft. He dribbles well. His handles are one of his strengths. He's shown it plenty.

Skiles just had no imagination or trust when it came to Gordon. How can anyone believe that Gordon couldn't get to the rim with just a little separation from a PnR? He already gets deep lane penetration without picks.

Vogel is gonna have Gordon and Hezonja playing more point forward like Paul George and Lance Stephenson, IMO.

Other than his dribbling, what do you think his advantages are as sf?

- he has good handles
- he has good passing and vision
- quick up and down the court with or without the ball, runs the lanes perfectly
- he's quick and athletic in the half court, too
- he's strong enough to bully a lot of other SFs in the post
- he can get into the paint and in close to the rim fairly easily
- he's by far our best player at drawing contact and getting 'superstar calls' at this point
- he finishes well through contact
- he's reading lanes and making cuts much more readily and effectively already
- he showed signs of a developing turn around mid range jump shot, which might see more use if he were more of a featured scorer
- he's probably our best perimeter defender

His jump shot and 3pt shot definitely need work, but he seemed to make big improvements with that just last year.

He's somewhere between a LeBron, Blake Griffin, Ben Simmons, Shawn Marion kind of hybrid player in my books.

[ivDT]

don't care what happens to fournier, just don't overpay him.

make vic the 6th man as a backup for both guard positions. move him if he can't get with the program. put mario at the 2. aaron at the 3.

i'm starting to wonder if the people who poo-poo the idea of aaron at small forward actually realize what kind of tools this kid has.

forget about him "dominating" power forward matchups on offense (ie, something that even the likes of luol deng would be able to do...) once he bulks up. aaron has guard-like lateral quickness right now. that's not something that you find very often in players his size. it would be an absolute crime to let that go to waste, especially since he's shown a desire to be a defensive presence. players like that win finals mvp awards in this league.

[BadMofoPimp]

IMO, he dribbles good enough and passes good enough. He doesn't shoot good enough. I'll give you that.

He doesn't dribble good enough to drive to the hoop like other SF's do or good enough for opposing SF's that he will play good defense against him.

He is good enough against opposing PF's tho.

I think the way Skiles used Gordon has forced you to misjudge his talent. Skiles underused Gordon and also misused Gordon. In half court sets, all AG did most of the time was run to the corner 3 and wait for the ball. If he got it, he had to make 1 of 3 decisions... shoot it, drive past his defender on the baseline for a closer shot/layup/dunk/reverse, or pass it.

Skiles never put the ball in his hand as a playmaker or main scoring option. If it happened, it was probably Gordon's own doing. Gordon has ISO skils, he just wasn't given the same freedom as others to exercise them. But he will...

I will leave it at his first 3 coaches used him mostly as a PF since the day he stepped on an NBA court. I seriously doubt any coach at this juncture is going to downsize him. In my opinion, this is just a fans wet dream.

[BadMofoPimp]

He doesn't dribble good enough to drive to the hoop like other SF's do or good enough for opposing SF's that he will play good defense against him.

He is good enough against opposing PF's tho.

Pfffffft. He dribbles well. His handles are one of his strengths. He's shown it plenty.

Skiles just had no imagination or trust when it came to Gordon. How can anyone believe that Gordon couldn't get to the rim with just a little separation from a PnR? He already gets deep lane penetration without picks.

Vogel is gonna have Gordon and Hezonja playing more point forward like Paul George and Lance Stephenson, IMO.

Other than his dribbling, what do you think his advantages are as sf?

Defense

[BadMofoPimp]

I still cannot fathom Gordon playing SF. He doesn't dribble good enough, pass good enough, shoot good enough as a SF. He can only play great defense at the SF position. It is like people only see Athleticism and his Defense then assume he should be a SF. The game is much more complex than that.

Gordon at SF still has more votes than Hezonja and Fournier at SG combined.

Gordon has done well with primary ball handling, so I reject your views on "dribbling." But I do agree Gordon just get better at more than jump shooting to emerge at Orlando's long-term future at starting SF. Your thoughts on passing (assists) are critical to this thought process.


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Hezonja at SF has almost double the votes Gordon has, so whats your point?

[axl_c_cool]

don't care what happens to fournier, just don't overpay him.

make vic the 6th man as a backup for both guard positions. move him if he can't get with the program. put mario at the 2. aaron at the 3.

i'm starting to wonder if the people who poo-poo the idea of aaron at small forward actually realize what kind of tools this kid has.

forget about him "dominating" power forward matchups on offense (ie, something that even the likes of luol deng would be able to do...) once he bulks up. aaron has guard-like lateral quickness right now. that's not something that you find very often in players his size. it would be an absolute crime to let that go to waste, especially since he's shown a desire to be a defensive presence. players like that win finals mvp awards in this league.

While that is all relevant this NBA small and power forward are almost just named positions. Gordon can defend anybody and play any role on offence, I'm not fussed what forward position he plays, what I I'm worried about is the team having balance and supplementing each other to be most efficient.

Currently our best players


Vucevic
Oladipo
Gordon
Fournier
Payton
Hezonja

Our players with the highest upside

Gordon
Hezonja
Oladipo
Payton
Fournier
Vucevic


The list almost reversed itself except Gordon and Oladipo staying in the top 3. As our 2nd highest potential player Hezonja has to play and in my opinion supplements Oladipo's style well, and also spaces the floor for Gordon and Payton as our only future PG. Fournier offers parts of what Mario and Dipo offer, so he makes the perfect 6th man. Unfortunately that leaves Vucevic as the odd man out because there is no interior defence, especially with Gordon guarding the majority of post players outside. That being said though I'd rather have him helping deeper if not on an elite wing and being the first or 2nd helper on a rotation than being 1 pass away and out of plays.


I've posted it before but I will again

Payton/FA
Oladipo/Fournier
Hezonja/FA
Gordon/Draft
FA/Vucevic


One question, Hezonja is 6'8, can/will he grow anymore?



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[drsd]

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Finically it has been widely speculated that Orlando cannot afford both Fournier and Oladipo.

Hezonja at SF has almost double the votes Gordon has, so whats your point?

With Fournier gaining only 9 votes total even though he was listed twice, it feels to me that this question is the answer to why Fournier cannot be a Magician moving forward.

To answer your specific question, I continue to be sceptic at Orlando utilizing Gordon as a starting PF.

So, if the back-court is : Payton/Oladipo/Hezonja, for me, Gordon also cannot be a Magician moving forward. Frankly, if Hezonja is a starting SF on this team, I see no role at all for Gordon.

Extending to PF options on the FA market:
Would Payton/Oladipo/Hezonja/Horford/Vučević be a competent starting five? Maybe-Yes. With a BIGGGggg question mark on defense.



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[BadMofoPimp]

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Finically it has been widely speculated that Orlando cannot afford both Fournier and Oladipo.

Hezonja at SF has almost double the votes Gordon has, so whats your point?

With Fournier gaining only 9 votes total even though he was listed twice, it feels to me that this question is the answer to why Fournier cannot be a Magician moving forward.

To answer your specific question, I continue to be sceptic at Orlando utilizing Gordon as a starting PF.

So, if the back-court is : Payton/Oladipo/Hezonja, for me, Gordon also cannot be a Magician moving forward. Frankly, if Hezonja is a starting SF on this team, I see no role at all for Gordon.

Extending to PF options on the FA market:
Would Payton/Oladipo/Hezonja/Horford/Vučević be a competent starting five? Maybe-Yes. With a BIGGGggg question mark on defense.



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So, whenever has Fan Voting on a Forum trump a GM or Coach?

This is not a democracy and we are not running the team.

Once upon a time, Fans here Voted Deiner over Meer!

[Un4given]

with current core, I would go with Dipo/Hezonja/Gordon at 2/3/4.

But I can see Hezonja having much higher ceiling as SG than SF so I'm not sure making a full time SF from him would be the best choice just to force our current pieces to click together. Hezonja at 2, KD at 3, Gordon at 4 with Dipo being 6th man would be a combo from my wet dreams. Elf should fit perfectly in that lineup, so we are basically decent rim protector away from being a serious contender. Also, small ball lineup of Elf/Dipo/Hezonja/Durant/Gordon would be OMFG great imho.