Aaron Gordon, Dewayne Dedmon will call for playing time to develop
The Orlando Magic would be wisest to commit itself to developing both Aaron Gordon and Dewayne Dedmon rather than relying so heavily on its mediocre veterans.
The Orlando Magic struggled to get consistent play from its frontcourt last season, and the biggest deficiency came in the form of toughness. The Magic were battered inside and outside by the league’s best frontcourts, and solving that glaring weakness involves looking at each option on the roster.
Just because the Magic have some higher profile guys on the roster does not mean Jason Smith and Dewayne Dedmon will not prove absolutely vital. Dedmon’s contract just became fully guaranteed and he’s locked in at a bargain-basement deal still.
When the Magic were plodding along and getting destroyed on the glass last year, the team turned to Dedmon and he produced, albeit inconsistently.
The Magic were coming off defeats to Charlotte and Atlanta, both games in which Cody Zeller and Paul Millsap, respectively, took it to the Magic in the paint. Dewayne Dedmon was just on the precipice of grabbing his starting role, which he maintained for 15 games (The Magic were 5-10 with Dedmon starting).
In the five wins with Dedmon as starter, he averaged 9.2 rebounds, 6.5 points and 1.2 blocks per game. Those numbers can all improve on the basis of experience alone.
Once Dedmon started on March 6, the Magic won two straight games before hitting another six-game skid. In those two wins, Dedmon had 24 boards, two blocked shots and 17 points. He was a huge difference maker. But that brilliance proved to be a short-lived revelation.
Dedmon proceeded to more or less fall off the radar, before coming back with a few double-digit rebounding efforts in April.
The gut-check reaction to Dedmon at that point was that he was an NBA-starter type of talent, but also that he was not consistent. Compounding that inconsistency, he re-encountered his issues with fouls when he fouled out in 23 minutes on April 1 against San Antonio.
He has trouble avoiding reaching because he is able to make defensive plays.
It is something that can be lived with initially, but at some point the Magic may either require big minutes from Dedmon or for him just to stop putting Orlando in the penalty so quickly.
Dedmon at his absolute best is a quality power forward, and he even demonstrated in that Chicago game a little bit of offensive comfort when he hit a 12-foot jumper in the first quarter. He also cleaned up a Payton miss, and that will be his most consistent source of offense this season too, opportunity buckets.
His shot is not atrocious, it is just low usage and he is still trying to figure out the best time to shoot as opposed to pass. He is raw.
Similarly, Aaron Gordon showed at times last year he could step up and seize the spotlight.
On April 8 against the Chicago Bulls, Gordon hit a clutch step-back 15-footer that showed poise and control at a point when the game was becoming a late-shot-clock slugfest. In that same quarter he also forced a 24-second shot clock on the Bulls by locking down on Nikola Mirotic and trapping him.
Gordon was beginning to really look like a high lottery pick talent, and he certainly showed the flashes of his potential. That is worth devoting some playing time to, even if Gordon comes with his “rookie mistakes” carrying over into year two.
Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post compiled a short 35-second clip featuring some of Gordon’s outstanding plays defensively last season (which also shows a play from his phenomenal efforts against the Bulls):
Both come with risks. But both are key.
They are key because Channing Frye did not deliver last season, and it was finally clear he never would by early March. Kyle O’Quinn had already permanently donned warmups more or less, which left the Magic basically with just two options.
But Gordon and Dedmon showed most of all that they could be NBA starters. The reality is that only one of them will have the chance to, and they will still have to stave off Jason Smith and Channing Frye to do it, both players with more experience in the NBA and a proven track record of production.
Will Scott Skiles favor the safe options in veterans Frye and Smith, or will he more often turn to the young guns Gordon and Dedmon? That is really all to be determined presumably on the basis of production, because player development while important has to take a backseat to some degree in striving to get some wins.
Everything will be earned in the Magic rotation.
The Magic were winning games last season when its young talent like Dedmon and Gordon played well.
Maybe that is an over-simplification since the ‘Ws’ did not keep rolling in — but those two young fellas gave the Magic a lot more chances to win with Frye seeming avoidance of rebounding and contact.
The Magic have to get tough on the interior, and Gordon led the Orlando Summer League in rebounding. Dedmon averaged 12.6 rebounds per-36, including an outstanding five offensive boards per-36.
That tandem could even play together, but the potential is definitely there for Dedmon and Gordon to become major rebounders at the 4-spot. The Magic were out rebounded by an average of 1.7 rebounds per game last season, and that can actually become an area the Magic excel in if the proper lineups are favored.
It is true Frye spreads the court, but maybe that model is shifted away from in favor of tougher interior play this season.
It is somewhat appalling to bench a player commanding a salary like Frye’s, but management is equally committed to giving Gordon enough run to prove his worth while also continuing to develop the interesting project that is Dedmon.
We really have yet to see this one through; both Gordon and Dedmon could become premier power forwards. The great thing is, even if only one does, the Magic then have its starting 4-man.
While Tobias Harris, Frye, Nikola Vucevic and Jason Smith are all more or less “known” values — Dedmon and Gordon could still make quantum leaps in production next season.
That is what will improve this team, too: It is counting on a lot of internal improvement.
But we saw glimpses of that improvement last year out of Gordon and Dedmon, making both well worth developing even if it comes at the cost of deducting minutes from the vets.