Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 10: Young, exciting . . . more questions
I do not know if you have heard this, but both are “forwards.” Positions no longer exist.
That is facetious. A Rob Hennigan-ism that has gotten tired and plenty of eye rolls from everyone. But in this case it is true. Both Gordon and Harris are “forwards.” Particularly when they play together. Their interchangeability and versatility of these two players makes them a good match for each other.
When Harris and Gordon play together their positions really do not matter. It is just an arbitrary label we put on them.
Diving in a bit deeper, Harris played 72 percent of his minutes at small forward, according to Basketball-Reference, last year while Aaron Gordon played 66 percent of his minutes at power forward. Harris’ percentages actually were flipped from 2014 when he played more than 70 percent of his minutes at power forward.
To put things a bit more simply, both players are capable of playing either forward position in today’s NBA. The league favors forwards who can stretch the floor more and that has led the league to de-emphasize the “power” part in power forward.
A lot of teams do not trot out two natural post players, leaving that area free for drivers or for the center to roam.
So when we get down to things, it is really irrelevant what we call the two. They can play both.
Further, what I like about playing Tobias Harris and Aaron Gordon together is that they are so interchangeable and versatile. They complement each other well.
Harris is better offensively as a three, where he can post up players and use his speed to get past defenders. Gordon is probably better offensively as a four where his athleticism and ball handling help him get past bigger defenders.
Defensively, Harris is probably better defending power forwards because of some of his lack of lateral quickness, while Gordon is better defending small forwards with his athleticism and strength.
They fill each other’s weaknesses really well and their versatility allows them to switch defensively and offensively. The positional label is really just an arbitrary one put on from the outside. It is our attempt to put things in boxes that are familiar. The NBA is not going that way, it treasures this kind of positional versatility and free-flowing nature.
I really like the idea of having Gordon and Harris on the floor together because of this. They complement each other really well. What you want to call them while they are on the floor together is really a fan’s and analyst’s option.