Do you think Aaron Gordon will emerge as a breakout star this year?

[Xatticus]

I voted no. I gave no explication on why I voted that way. I generally avoid making predictions. This isn't because I'm worried about being wrong, but rather because it just isn't my nature to reach conclusions before the evidence is in. That said, the reason for my 'no' vote was simply because the list of players around the NBA that I consider to be 'stars' is exceptionally short. Assuming Gordon's 3P% doesn't remain somewhere in the neighborhood of super-human, he still won't have reached that threshold from my point of view.

I've never jumped off of the Aaron Gordon bandwagon. I believe too much in his combination of athleticism, character, and work ethic. I had little doubt that he would demonstrate significant improvement this year. I'm also very optimistic about the futures of Payton and Isaac, for what that's worth.

This is what you do with young players. You suffer through the struggles of their development while you do everything you can to help them realize their potential. I don't start to worry about young players until their development stagnates.

It's that we weren't realistic about how far we were from where we wanted to be that lead us to some very short-sighted decisions with a few of our other developing youngsters. Fortunately for us, we didn't dump them all for veterans in an effort to scrape into the playoffs.

[fendilim]

40% would be more realistic at the end of the season.

[MagicMadness]

My prediction this season was that he would develop into a Nick Anderson/Horace Grant/Dennis Scott type, one of those really good starters that every good playoff team needs but whom isn't necessarily an all-star.

But instead, he's looking more like a future 1st-2nd option, and a potential all-star. We talk about 3rd year players making the 4th year leap, and Gordon seems to be doing just that.

[Optimus_Steel]

Then the many of the posters need a reality check, because not a single person predicted AG to up his shooting to 57.5% on 4.4 attempts a game. Even thought it's unsustainable and even if he drops to 40% that will be a gigantic leap which no one predicted.

I think the next thing he needs to work on his game is getting to the line, premier players usually average more than 3 FTA.

Read on Twitter

He's going to prove all of yall wrong.

Maybe not 57%, but there were people on here that thought he could improve his shot significantly. Read some of the posts of the posters that quoted that post I made in this thread too. AG took a ton of slander in this thread, Its just satisfying for the minority of posters that did think he could make this type of leap to see it happen.

Majority of the board believed he would improve his shot, there wasn't any reason to believe he wouldn't. But for anyone to act like they expected his shot to be this great this soon is lying.

His shot is money, and it isn't far-fetched to say he'll end up at 40% or so, which is a massive 12% increase from last year; going from bad to elite in 1 off-season is very rare, and very awesome to see one of our players living up to expectations, and he's still 22 with alot more potential.

His 3pt shot did not improve at all his first 3 years so that was my reasoning for not believing he could make major improvements. Usually you see gradual improvements year over year, not go zero to hero in one summer. That just does not happen, its in reality unprecedented.

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[drsd]

I agree that this is THE critical season for Gordon. If he does not get-better, the Magic will shop for a new starting PF.

But to look at some numbers.

Paul George
20yo - 7ppg/4rpg
21yo - 12ppg/5rpg
22yo - 17ppg/7rpg

Aaron Gordon
20yo - 9ppg/6rpg (better than George)
21yo - 12ppg/5rpg (same as George)
22yo - time to earn your pay check!

If Gordon has a 17/7 season this season, we fans can be comfortable with him over the longer term. But another 12/5 season will not be enough.


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Since this was dug up, I can see that Gordon is on 19/8; that is more than George added at 22 !


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[Audi]

It was the semantics of "stardom" that got me hung up on the poll, not a lack of belief in AG....I wanna be a mayor of told you town too

[Audi]

I'm pretty sure this jump in shooting is unprecedented, even if it drops some.

[CraZyPraiZ]

One can not ignore the obvious progress and the work that he has put in. His shot is so much better looking this year and he is now playing in the flow of the game. AG is all of 22 and hasn't even filled out his body. The answer is not this year but if he keeps this up no doubt a year or two from now.

[Bergmaniac]

Anyone knows if there is some sort of an official record for the biggest increase in 3pt percentage from one season to the next (not counting players who took only 50 or less threes per season)? I don't recall anyone improving as much as him so quickly, he went from being dared to shoot 3s by most teams and shooting under 30% to being a deadly shooter from there. He and his shooting coach did a fantastic job this offseason.

[drsd]

I'm pretty sure this jump in shooting is unprecedented, even if it drops some.

Gordon is currently on pace to be the best-ever 3-ball shooter. Nobody in a sound mind can accept that as the outcome of the season.

But a 43%+ 3-ball season is starting to look probable at this point. In other words, a horrible 3-ball shooter became an elite 3-ball shooter because of a Summer. That is awesome!


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[VFX]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

[InFlames]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Giannis, Lebron and Westbrook are superstars, not stars. There is a difference. AG can certainly become a star and its absolutely ridiculous to say he won't be one ever like you did.

[BaunceyChillups]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Gordon is ranked 7th in the entire league by WS/48 and only .01 behind LeBron. He's been significantly better than Blake Griffin, Paul George, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan so far this year. Are those players also 'at most a solid level starting caliber''?

[PrimeThyme]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Hence why we have stars and then superstars in this league.. The guys you named are superstars. AG is playing at an All-star level right now.

[PrimeThyme]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Giannis, Lebron and Westbrook are superstars, not stars. There is a difference. AG can certainly become a star and its absolutely ridiculous to say he won't be one ever like you did.

Go read some of his earlier posts in this thread. It won't come as a surprise to you that he sees AG "AT most a starting level player". He is a notorious AG hater on this board. && I generally like most of the things MagicMatic has to say, but when it comes to AG he has a clear agenda.

[VFX]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Gordon is ranked 7th in the entire league by WS/48 and only .01 behind LeBron. He's been significantly better than Blake Griffin, Paul George, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan so far this year. Are those players also 'at most a solid level starting caliber''?

PG and Butler are playing with brand new teams 10 games into the new season. DeMar and Blake Griffin put up numbers, but I wouldn’t say they take over games single handedly. Sure I’ll bite and say AG is on par for a Blake Griffin-esque impact. Which is insightful considering I personally consider Derozen and Griffin both overrated.

[VFX]

AGs 3 Point shooting has improved and he has surpassed my expectations for him this season.

To answer the original question. No he is not a star this season or ever. He is at most a solid level starting caliber player.

A star is Giannis, Lebron, Westbrook, etc. These are players that singlehandedly take over games consistently.

Giannis, Lebron and Westbrook are superstars, not stars. There is a difference. AG can certainly become a star and its absolutely ridiculous to say he won't be one ever like you did.

Go read some of his earlier posts in this thread. It won't come as a surprise to you that he sees AG "AT most a starting level player". He is a notorious AG hater on this board. && I generally like most of the things MagicMatic has to say, but when it comes to AG he has a clear agenda.

I say he has surpassed my expectations and has clearly stepped up his level of play and become a better player this season... but I have an agenda? Got it.

I haven’t been a huge fan of AG up to this season - that’s obvious. Mostly because he has been considered the face of the franchise for 3+ years and our most valuable asset without a “good” season until now - his contract year.

[tiderulz]

I'll say i was hoping for a 16/7 or so year. He has blown by my expectations. He isnt necessarily a shot creator, but that can come later, still very young. very happy to see his development starting to pay off.

[Nemesis21]

Giannis, Lebron and Westbrook are superstars, not stars. There is a difference. AG can certainly become a star and its absolutely ridiculous to say he won't be one ever like you did.

Go read some of his earlier posts in this thread. It won't come as a surprise to you that he sees AG "AT most a starting level player". He is a notorious AG hater on this board. && I generally like most of the things MagicMatic has to say, but when it comes to AG he has a clear agenda.

I say he has surpassed my expectations and has clearly stepped up his level of play and become a better player this season... but I have an agenda? Got it.

I haven’t been a huge fan of AG up to this season - that’s obvious. Mostly because he has been considered the face of the franchise for 3+ years and our most valuable asset without a “good” season until now - his contract year.

So who else would you say is? Vucevic? Fournier? I'd say it's AG, followed by Elf.

[VFX]

Go read some of his earlier posts in this thread. It won't come as a surprise to you that he sees AG "AT most a starting level player". He is a notorious AG hater on this board. && I generally like most of the things MagicMatic has to say, but when it comes to AG he has a clear agenda.

I say he has surpassed my expectations and has clearly stepped up his level of play and become a better player this season... but I have an agenda? Got it.

I haven’t been a huge fan of AG up to this season - that’s obvious. Mostly because he has been considered the face of the franchise for 3+ years and our most valuable asset without a “good” season until now - his contract year.

So who else would you say is? Vucevic? Fournier? I'd say it's AG, followed by Elf.

I would 100% say it has been AG since being drafted as the future of this franchise.