Draft Profile: Aaron Gordon

With the NBA Draft Lottery behind us, we shift our focus directly to the June 26th NBA Draft. Over the next month we’ll look at some of the top prospects in the draft, along with players that the Magic either reportedly worked out, or interviewed at the NBA Draft Combine. Arizona high flyer Aaron Gordon is next.

After one season and a trip to the Elite Eight, Arizona’s electrifying freshman Aaron Gordon is turning pro. The number four recruit in ESPN’s Top-100 in 2013, Gordon wowed people with his great athleticism and versatility his single season as a Wildcat. Now Gordon, a projected top-10 pick, waits to see where he’s going to take his talents at the next level.

Points

Total Rebound %

Assist %

Usage %

TS %

2013-12

12.4

14.9

13.0

23.2

50.3

Gordon’s numbers are… Less than appealing at this point. He wasn’t very efficient offensively, and his rebounding numbers weren’t the greatest. The thing that does stand out, however, is his assist percentage, which is at a good rate for a big.

Measurables

Height w/shoes

Weight

Wingspan

Standing Reach

Max Vert

6’ 8.75”

220

6’ 11.75”

8’ 9”

39.0

Strengths

Athleticism

Athletically, Gordon might be the most gifted player in this draft. He can jump out of the building, and has good enough quickness to be extremely versatile. He’s a quick jumper, and extremely explosive when he does go up. Gordon has a lot of upside in the pick and roll game thanks to his ability to rise of the defense and finish off lobs, and his overall ability to play above the rim. He had the eighth highest max vert at the NBA Combine as well.

Defense

Some of this can be attributed to his great athletic ability, but overall, Gordon is a stalwart defensively. Thanks to his great versatility, he’s able to guard almost all five positions, and do it well. Gordon is very fundamentally sound on the defensive end, and thanks to his great lateral quickness, he can move and guard smaller guards with relative ease. He’s solid defending the post, and will continue to bulk up and help him against some of the bigger, stronger small or power forwards in the NBA.

Weaknesses

Offensive Game

Aside from being a fantastic and exciting finisher, Gordon’s offensive game needs a lot of work. At this point, he’s relying only on his athleticism and ability to play above the rim for his production. He doesn’t have much of a post game, and his jumper is extremely poor. He was in the bottom quarter of players in DraftExpress’ Top-100 in points per-40 minutes, averaging just 15.8 points per-40 minutes. Gordon has a lot of work to do if he’s going to want to make people respect him offensively.

Rebounding

Despite being a solid offensive rebounder, Gordon needs work on the defensive end. He’s not overly physical inside, which can allow oppositions to get a much better position against him and box him out relatively easily. He relies heavily on his athleticism, rather than working on solidifying his technique. According to DraftExpress, Gordon averaged 6.6 defensive rebounds per-40 minutes, which ranked him 16th among all power forwards in their Top-100.

Conclusion

Gordon is as exciting as they come in this draft. His great athleticism and ability to play above the rim make him an exiting option going forward, along with his already refined on-ball and team defense. He has a lot of questions, mostly offensively, that have to be answered, especially if he wants to be a force in the league going forward.

With the fourth pick and a need at power forward, Gordon could be in play for the team. He’d fit a defensive need next to center Nikola Vucevic, and with the right work could be a phenomenal fit. However, with the Magic getting closer and closer to the end of their rebuilding phase, can they wait for Gordon to fill out into the kind of player he has potential to be?

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