[high floorParticipant]

Well… this should be interesting! 

The general consensus amongst Magic fans, and this forum, is that Aaron Gordon needs to play PF on offense to maximize his athletic gifts & create the biggest mismatch. I don’t think Gordon will play 100% of his minutes at SF.. but Orlando has gone on record saying he will start at the 3 next season.

Aesthetically speaking, I get a little queasy thinking about AG creating off the dribble in the half court & jacking up a bunch of jumpers. But the guy is such a hard worker, and he’s only 21 years old.. so it’s unfair to say he can’t improve his skills on the perimeter. It most likely won’t be pretty this year though.

Defensively, I actually think his best position is guarding small forwards or speedy 4’s. He doesn’t have the base or core lower body strength to guard PF’s consistently in the post. His freaky speed & agility will be best served guarding quicker more athletic players not tied to the paint.

Orlando’s offense could well be bottom 5 next year, but their defense could potentially be pretty nasty with Coach Vogel manning the sidelines.

Anyone else have an opinion on Aaron Gordon playing small forward next season?

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

I’m excited for it simply because of the fact that I’m not a fan of small ball and hate how every position is basically getting shorter. I’m not too crazy about the idea of him dribbling in the halfcourt either, but like you said he’s a super hard worker so I’m not gonna say he can’t develop those skills. The thing I’m most excited about with him though is him on defense and fast breaks

[high floorParticipant]

If you are going to zig while everyone else is zagging (pace & space, small-ball, shoot 30+ threes per game)… then I think adding elite, proven, defensive minded bigs & coaching (looking at you Biyombo/Ibaka/Vogel) is a decent alternative plan. 

Are they going to struggle scoring? Yes, but it’s not like their roster is completely devoid of outside shooting.

• Evan Fournier – 39% career from three 
• Jeff Green – 34% career from three
• Mario Hezonja – 35% career from three
• Serge Ibaka – 35.5% career from three
• DJ Augustin – 37.5% career from three

All of those guys are going to get consistent minutes each game. And although Vucevic is not a 3pt threat yet.. he’s deadly from 15-18 feet. One of the leagues best actually. So it’s cool to see a team try a different strategy instead of automatically complying to this trend.

[SubZeroParticipant]

Exactly, it might not work for everyone but it worked for OKC for a good while against Golden State (and should’ve gotten us to the Finals in all honesty if KD would’ve passed the ball the last 3 games and if Klay didn’t have one of the best shooting games in history), but it could work for some teams. I really like Orlando’s starting 5 of Payton-Fournier-Gordon-Ibaka-Vucci and am a huge fan of Hezonja, so I’ll definitely be keeping up with how the Magic do this season.

[Anton123Participant]

 For now he can be a defensive specialist at the SF position, sounds like something coach Vogel might like. He can score in transition, off cuts and when he’s wide open from three. Ibaka and Green will help them with spacing as stretch fours and, hopefully, Payton and Fournier will be enough as ball handlers.

I’m guessing the offence will be created through Payton, Fournier and Vucevic, Ibaka and Gordon will be there to provide defence, rebounding and hustle (as well as spacing by Ibaka).

Off the bench Hezonja, Green and Augustin will provide more offence, while Biyombo will anchor the defence. 

A terribly interesting team, I will try to watch a lot of Magic games this year. Overall the NBA seems more exciting next season, teams like the Magic and the Bucks are going to be fun to keep track of, hell, even Philadelphia might be worth a watch or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Should be interesting to say the least. Offensively, it’s hard for me to see it working unless gordon dramatically improves his perimeter skills. They have talked about using him like Paul George but that seems to be a major stretch given what he’s shown so far. I’d much rather see them look to develop hezonja at that position as it would seem to give them a more balanced lineup. If they feel hezonjas not ready yet, they also have a serviceable option at SF in Jeff green on the roster as well. Seems like they just want to get Gordon on the floor as much as possible but there aren’t going to be that many mins available at pf with the logjam they’ve created. I’m not really sure exactly what the magic are doing here.

Defensively, Gordon could probably play either forward position depending on matchups. I have no problem with him guarding wing players but Im just not sure you could survive for long stretches on offense playing him there without the surrounding personnel to make it work.

 

[Prime TimeParticipant]

I don’t like Gordon starting at SF. Honestly, I’d prefer Hezonja as the starter. He’s better everywhere offensively, and is a solid defensive player. With Elfrid Payton as the starting PG, the Magic can’t afford to have another player on the perimeter with a questionable jumpshot. Hezonja, Ibaka, and Fournier would do a solid job stretching the floor so that Vucevic can go to work. 

Biyombo, Gordon, Green, and Augustin would be a quick, athletic second unit that would be tough for some teams to keep up with, and they would hold their own defensively.

But who knows? Gordon is young and still full of potential.

[GBeeParticipant]

 This is my sentiment too.  I’d be more excited about Hezonja’s development at the 3 than Gordon’s.  MH just has so much more offensive potential.

Maybe if Gordon accepted a role as just an athletic, energy guy it would work, but he has it in his mind that he’s more than that.  He came into the league thinking he was a future Magic/Pippen according to his interviews.  Dude makes me cringe when he tries to put the ball on the deck and create, even when he takes the ball off the rim and tries to go coast to coast.  More often than not he just ends up wasting clock and not getting the ball to the more skilled players. He doesn’t wanna post either, so that combined with his lack of perimeter skill gives him no advantage at the 3 offensively other than being an over the top option and o-boarder, whereas his straight line quickness would actually give him an advantage vs 4’s.

I still think small ball 4 is his future position, but he has to get a lot tougher.  Maybe the reason he doesn’t want to be a 4 is because he’s a bit soft.  For such an athletic specimen with a seemingly strong build, he gets bodied a lot in the paint.  He came into the league with the mindset that he was a perimeter playmaker even though his actual skills said otherwise. His advanced numbers since scream that he’s much better as a PF, but whatever. He seems convinced to prove that he’s something that he’s not.

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

If I were a Magic fan…Id get a season pass to Disneyworld instead. 

Its one of those teams that could be relocated in 3-5 years if they dont get their act together. 

Horrible trades and even worse talent evaluation. Combine that with a small market (pop: 250k) and disillusioned fan base who have been burned repeatedly and have no chance of making the playoffs….

Aaron Gordon is a tweener…and not the good kind. You just have to take Exum with that pick.

Give the Sonics back their team and lets end this charade that exists in Orlando once and for all. 

As for the good people of Orlando…they wont mind….they dont even like basketball! 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Since he was 16 we have been talking about Aaron needing to improve his perimeter skills and every year he seems to improve and show more ability as a SF. I’m sure he will be successful. It hasn’t quite translated at the NBA level but in his summerleague performances he showcased a tight handle and smooth shot. He should continue progressing and the Magic are wise for giving him the opportunity after patiently developing him.

[BeastMode716Participant]

 basically roll the ball out & if a man can run ball he plays

If a team has a good coach & good chemistry & 5 guys who can play ball than they will be just fine & Aaron Gordon can play – this ridiculous notion that unless a guy can shoot 3 pointers than he can’t get on the court at Wing or Guard is ridiculous.

 

[EspressoParticipant]

 I think we take for granted how good of a forum this is, as much as I like it as a forum there’s not another forum that comes even close, iow, I love this forum and every other basketball forum out there sucks, literally is not even comparable, this forum is like LeBron vs Bodgan. Now during slow season for this site i tried to find another basketball forum and they are ALL garbage, a bunch of noobs talking shit. This forum is LEGIT as funk and it’s not hard to tell. GBEE IS A GOD, and you better appreciate him dropping knowledge on us clowns. Listen to that MR cus he is the best basketball poster out of EVERYONE in the Internet and we got him here at .net

[XYRYXParticipant]

praising the forum (rightfully so!) is one thing but what kind of love affair is going on with you and GBee???

[HitsterParticipant]

 I had been wondering how Orlando would fit Aaron Gordon in having added Biyombo, Ibaka and Green to their roster over the summer. They will certainly have great defensive length up there with the Bucks but scoring does look an issue unless they can all chip in.

Jeff Green is a combo forward so they will have options about matching guys up. Biyombo and Ibaka may not play together as their games are a bit similar. 

Hezonja will hopefully see good minutes around Gordon too.

I did think they gave up a fair bit for Ibaka as he’ll be out of contract next summer unless they look to extend him early and with the salary hikes, Ibaka would be looking for a very large deal too.

I’d guess the Magic will be looking to keep opposition scoring down as much as they can and try to win games due to their defence and make them lower scoring. The team have some 15-20ppg players who they hope can play to that level, everyone will look to chip in. But if they come up against volume scoring teams they may suffer a bit. Also experienced teams are able to grind out wins and will be quite happy to play the Magic at their own game, so the Magic may need a quicker offence in those games.

 

 

 

 

[Numbers_CruncherParticipant]

The top 3 offenses in the league have Lebron, Durant, and Kawhi starting at the 3. Lebron and Durant are nearly impossible to slow down, but I think Aaron Gordon is one of the few to have that potential. 

[DolanCareParticipant]

 Until he can shoot at least 70% from the line, I really don’t like the idea of Gordon starting at the 3. It can be experimented with in spurts, but then I also want to see spurts where he plays the 5. I was already roundly negged for saying this a few months ago… and I’ll say it again. 

Gordon is a tantalizing center for small-ball lineups. I want to see more this season. The Ibaka, Biyombo, Vucevic brigade obviously doesn’t help. But regardless of this silly logjam of big-man, I propose .net legislation for Gordon to play for minutes at the 5. 

 

[DanielcmccartyParticipant]

He was a really high draft pick and they need to develop him. Should have been squeezing him in at the 3 some ever since he was drafted. Its not like Orlando was winning anything. 

[pokieParticipant]

 I’m not sure Gordon has the skill set to play the three for Frank Vogel. Maybe by announcing his intentions Coach is trying to squeeze a "Greek-Freakout" out of Aaron? Usually, you want scoring and offensive creativity out of your three. Those are the catagories Gordon lags behind in. I feel like they may be putting him in a position he will be hard pressed to succeed in. Unless they’re maybe going for a giant Tony Allen type thing?

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