What adding depth means for Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic
The offseason acquisitions the Orlando Magic made not only proved this organization wants to focus on the defensive end, but also to improve depth within the roster.
The vibe around the city of Orlando is defense, defense and more defense.
With a totally different roster catered to locking down opponents, the Orlando Magic have seemingly constructed a basketball team who enjoys the defensive end.
One of the best defenders on this newly designed Magic team is the third-year small forward from Arizona, Aaron Gordon.
Gordon acknowledged the team’s progress during the offseason on ESPN’s His & Hers. According to Gordon the moves were necessary to create competitiveness within the team.
"“Having Jeff Green and those guys is going to make our practices more competitive, it’s going to translate over to the court and we’re going to be a better team,” says Gordon."
How much better, is the million-dollar question in media circles before training camp.
Critics agree the Magic will be better defensively. But outsiders question the offensive ceiling for a team lacking a 20 point-per-game scorer.
But the one area that critics and observers have not critiqued, is the depth of the team.
Besides the added rim protection, without question the depth has been the most improved area from last year.
This time last year, the Magic bench consisted of Dewayne Dedmon, Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja, C.J. Watson, Jason Smith, Devyn Marble, Andrew Nicholson and Shabazz Napier.
Like the majority of the roster, the 2016 bench was a group of unproven talent. The only veteran on the bench the young players could look up to was C.J. Watson, he only played in 33 games last year.
Watson was the only player on the bench who has played in the postseason. Watson played a reserve role in the Eastern Conference Finals twice, with Chicago and Indiana. He has backed up Derrick Rose and George Hill. His unavailability was crucial to the leadership and growth of the bench nucleus.
The rest of the bench were unproven guys or players being asked to do more than they could provide. Channing Frye and Jason Smith struggled to provide what was needed for the team to succeed. Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja were still too raw to contribute significantly and support the starters.
What a difference a year makes. Gordon is a starter now and is super excited about the 2017 bench depth which features: Mario Hezonja, Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, Jodie Meeks, D.J. Augustin, C.J. Wilcox, Stephen Zimmerman and C.J. Watson..
Now the bench looks like a playoff-experienced group with the majority of the nucleus having logged minutes deep in postseason play.
For example, Bismack Biyombo not only logged postseason minutes during the 2016 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, he was the starting center against the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, replacing Jonas Valanciunas. Biyombo received league-wide respect after his defensive performance in Toronto. Biyombo blocked and redirected a bunch of LeBron James shots’ during the series. He essentially earned his contract with that performance.
Another example is Jeff Green. Green has logged playoff minutes alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and many more. Just last year, Green played in six playoff games for the Los Angeles Clippers, starting in one and averaging 10.2 points per game and 3.2 rebounds per game.
Adding D.J. Augustin was tremendous too.
Last year, when Watson suffered an injury, which limited him to 33 games, there was not a viable option behind him at point guard. Now the Magic have a solid option who has logged minutes in the playoffs as well. Augustine averaged 13.2 points per game and 4.8 assists per game while averaging 28.2 minutes for the Chicago Bulls in 2014.
He has bounced around the league some since then. But when he was given playing time in Denver last year, he flourished to help the Nuggets finish the season strong.
Gordon certainly has reason to be excited about the newly constructed bench because now he has a veteran on the bench whom he can learn from that plays the same position.
Jeff Green can become a mentor to Gordon. Green knows all about being a top-five pick and the pressures that come with it.
This is an individual Gordon can draw stretch-4 and small forward experience from. Last year Tobias Harris and Channing Frye started at power forward in front of Gordon, Harris was traded and Frye could not mentor Gordon on the ins and outs about the small forward position.
The Gordon’s best has yet to be seen, offensively and defensively.
Adding elite rim protectors will surely add confidence in the younger players. It is like bringing your big brothers to the fight with you. Gordon and the others will be able to press up on the perimeter knowing there is help behind them. And Frank Vogel has made it clear he hopes to have a rim protector on the floor at all times.
Regardless of who starts at center, the Magic have options they can rely on now off the bench. That will make the team better. Competition in practice will be better and that should help the team generally improve.
All this means a young player like Aaron Gordon will have the pressure in practice to continue to get better. If anything, just to keep his minutes. It means Gordon and the other young players will have guidance too on the court in a way they perhaps did not through much of last year.
Next: Improving Evan Fournier with some lofty goals
The pressure of winning is familiar to many players on the Magic now — at least, the ones they brought in through free agency and trades. That should make the whole team better as they begin to define themselves.