Aaron Gordon is finding his place in the NBA

A real comparison

Paul George ironically might offer Gordon a blueprint for success on defense. The two have virtually identical measurables (both are listed as 6-foot-9 and 220 pounds), but George’s footwork is more advanced.

In this video, George gets right around Clint Capela’s tough screen and funnels Harden to the Pacers’ young shot blocker Myles Turner. He stays attached to his hip and cuts off any passing lanes to Capela.

Because of George’s defense here, Harden does not get an open three, he does not get a clean chance at the rim, and he has no chance at throwing a lob. Partial credit goes to the Indiana Pacers’ schemes certainly, but none of this can happen without George getting around Capela’s screen.

On a nearly identical play, a Capela-Harden high screen-and-roll, Gordon’s footwork prevents him from getting around the pick as quickly as he needs to defend the play effectively.

The difference between the two plays is that on the first, George gets around the screen but willingly eases off of Harden. That way he cuts off a lane to Capela, preventing a lob. And because he does not have to worry about Capela, Turner can stop Harden at the rim by forcing him to finish with his non-dominant hand.

On the second play, Gordon is forced by the screen to give Harden enough space to take Nikola Vucevic one-on-one and draw the foul.

Because George got around that screen, Harden ended up with a subpar shot and a missed layup. Because Gordon could not get around the screen as quickly, Harden was able to dictate the terms of engagement, finish with his left (dominant) hand and complete the and-one.

Sometimes a good screen is just a good screen. There is not much an individual defender, no matter how great, can do about that. That is why team defense and schemes are so important.

But if Gordon can do a better job of handling screens, whether it is in his decision making or just physically getting over them, he will be able to give scorers even more fits.

Picking at these minor shortcomings in Gordon’s 2016-17 campaign feels like splitting hairs. Despite him not grading well in advanced metrics, his opponent field goal percentage is right up with the elite.

Looking exclusively at opponent field goal percentage to evaluate defense is a deeply flawed approach, but it is an important piece of the larger puzzle. It shows how well an individual player can bother shots regardless of team defense.

For Gordon, understanding that the players shoot 4.5 percentage points worse when he defends them is a reason for even more optimism.