Aaron Gordon will likely see some more minutes at small forward this year. That is a shift from his first two years and could be a big decision for the team.
If there is a criticism for the Orlando Magic’s extremely active offseason, it is that the team left a lot of things uncertain for some of its key players. It is not particularly clear where some players fit and whether they will be used at their fullest capacity.
Versatility and depth are great things. The ability to throw out different lineups and match up with different players is a good thing. Orlando has fantastic depth now too with the ability to rely on different players each night. The team should be able to withstand injuries better than it did last season.
Still, to make the Playoffs from 35 wins, and build the sustainable winner the Magic have long desired, they will need to make sure they are using their players at their peak.
The questions about whether the Orlando Magic would do this began, seemingly, the moment the team acquired Serge Ibaka. The option was seemingly to put Ibaka at the 4, where he has played for much of his career, or embrace small ball and move him to center. That would slide Aaron Gordon to the 4. Or the Magic could play him at the three.
The versatility is both a blessing and a curse. It gives a coach like Frank Vogel a ton of options, but that also means he and the Magic have to pick the right use.
That cannot be any more clear than with Aaron Gordon.
Gordon is still this unshaped mass of talent. He has played both forward positions and is capable of playing both, but he has not established himself perfectly as a player yet. Injuries have slowed him down — whether it was the foot injury his rookie year or the jaw injury last year. No one is quite sure what Gordon really is.
His 9.2 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game were not eye popping in any way. His 13.9 points per 36 minutes are not incredibly impressive either. It is still difficult to figure out what Gordon is going to be able to provide.
What we do know is that he still struggles to shoot — 29.6 percent from beyond the arc last year — and that Gordon is still developing a lot of perimeter skills.
The way the Magic used him reflected that. He played 60 percent of his minutes according to Basketball-Reference at power forward — he played 66 percent of his minutes at power forward in 2015. It seemed Gordon was set to be a power forward.
But the Magic appear more set now to use him at small forward more. That is about the only place he can start with the frontcourt group of Serge Ibaka, Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo.
And it is hard to say whether he is most effective there.
According to 82Games.com, the Magic were -0.8 points per 48 minutes with Gordon at the small forward position and -2.8 points per 48 minutes with Gordon at the power forward position. That was with last year’s team.
Individually, Gordon posted a 20.3 PER at the power forward position and a 14.8 PER at the small forward position. His opponents had a 17.0 PER at power forward and 13.1 PER at small forward.
Clearly the Magic are thinking about playing better defensively and so want to use his defensive acumen at small forward more than at power forward. The differential was great for him at small forward. But that does not paint a complete picture.
Maybe the decision is a product of how the roster seems to shake out. It would appear Gordon is going to creep closer to 50/50 on his split at the forward positions.
The Magic are going to be putting a lot of pressure on Gordon. He is the big draft pick they need to cash in. And to make this roster makeover work, Gordon is going to have to perform and improve in a lot of areas.
By some accounts, Gordon has made those improvements.
The word from USA Basketball practices is that Aaron Gordon's jumper and handle look better than ever. Key as he'll play SF a lot this year.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 21, 2016
The Magic are balancing a lot of competing interests in doling out minutes this year. There is a balance between development still and this extreme pressure to win. Figuring out the best lineups is going to be key.
A lot of the team’s success is riding on Gordon for the future. He has not yet defined himself in the league. Where the Magic play him will help clarify that definition — not to mention set the franchise’s direction.
That sounds like a lot of pressure. It may not be. . . or it may be.
The Magic are still figuring out where to make Gordon fit. Some certainly believe it is at power forward, pushing Ibaka to center. That is a position Ibaka has never played consistently in the league. The ideas of playing him there would be exploring some new territory for his career — and he has a lot of areas to explore in his career still.
Gordon will still be critical to the season. How the Magic use him will determine just how much success they can have and even how the entire rebuild is viewed.
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Orlando has to find the most effective way to use him to make good on the expectations.