Aaron Gordon 2015-16 Statistical Projections

Aaron Gordon’s Scoring Potential

Aaron Gordon is capable of hurting an opposing defense in a lot of ways. His shooting stroke seems it may be far better than it was billed to be coming out of Arizona, and no one has ever questioned his athleticism. Putting all of it together into the complete package is now the challenge, and it is every bit as daunting as it seems.

First off, there is the matter of position. Gordon clearly can play both forward spots, most especially defensively, but his role within the offense is likely going to be highly dependent upon who he shares the court with.

Gordon will not often be the primary focus offensively, though in the second unit he may see quite a few more looks than when he is on the court with the starting unit. And that only skirts the question that we are entirely unsure whether Gordon will start or come off the bench, at that.

Logic seems to dictate that he will not start the season, that Skiles will opt to go with a veteran like Jason Smith or Channing Frye. His minutes and role are not at all clear.

But Gordon could easily start.

If Gordon impresses enough in camp and in the preseason, he could become the opening night starter. That scenario, naturally, boosts his numbers far higher than if he is coming in for energy and hustle minutes off the bench.

Gordon’s uncertain role almost leaves this scoring projection best rendered to the realm of subjective analysis, but that is avoiding the task at hand of taking a stab at his scoring.

Last season Gordon shot 44.7 percent from the floor while averaging five points and three rebounds per game. It was humble production in 47 appearances, only eight of which were starts. Rather than reading too much into the full picture, let’s first look at how Gordon performed in the starts.

His first stretch of starts came in late January when he took to starting against the Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Magic lost all five of these games, and though Gordon had his moments, he was mostly underwhelming.

Aaron averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.2 steals/blocks per game in about 22 minutes per game in those five starts. None of the contests were particularly impressive from a statistical standpoint and the Magic were in the midst of a tough stretch of opponents. Losing had already become the theme. Nothing changed with Gordon, nor did the Magic get on track after pulling him.

In the short stint as a starter, he showed flashes and got Magic fans excited. But the losses continued to pile up, dimming any sparks and leaving us continuing to search for the “silver lining” type of analysis that became the theme of last season so often at OMD.

It was just that kind of season, with few positives to be found, but every attempt to focus on the ones that did come. Moral victories.

Gordon started three more games after being pulled in January, and he did not perform particularly well in that trio of contests either. Really, it is tough to start to draw many conclusions on what Gordon can do this season based on last season.

But what else is there to go on?

Next: Role will matter