Orlando Magic Daily
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Top 5 NBA Jam duos for the 2018 Orlando Magic

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 16: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic goes to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets on December 16, 2015 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 16: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic goes to the basket against the Charlotte Hornets on December 16, 2015 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 13: Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic dunks off an alley oop from teammate Elfrid Payton in the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All-Star Weekend 2016 at Air Canada Centre on February 13, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

3. Aaron Gordon & Elfrid Payton

Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton have been playing together since Gordon was a high school senior. They were players on the USA U18 team the summer before they were drafted together by the Orlando Magic.

That duo has remained fairly strong. Payton knows how to find Gordon and Gordon knows how to finish when he gets the ball from Payton.

According to NBA.com’s stats database, Gordon received 95 assists from Payton last season. That is more than 60 assists greater than the next player — Nikola Vucevic at 33. There is an undoubted connection between these two players. They work well together.

And to be sure, they would be a great alley-ooping duo. Plenty of those 95 assists from Payton ended with Gordon slamming it home — including that one Payton threw off the backboard against the Brooklyn Nets late in the season.

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This is definitely a duo you have to consider placing together in the NBA. But it is undoubtedly a flawed one.

While Payton would surely have a pretty solid ball handling rating and could get around the paint in NBA JAM fairly easily, his lack of shooting makes him extremely one dimensional.

Last year, Payton shot 47.1 percent from the floor, but just 27.4 percent from beyond the arc. He took a career-high in 3-point attempts and was supposedly more comfortable doing so, but did not produce.

By the end of the season, he was back to passing on open 3-pointers and trying to get into the paint more. He was surprisingly efficient when he did that — he still shot 49.3 percent effective field goal percentage.

Add in Aaron Gordon’s sub-30 percent 3-point shooting and this is looking like a simple alley oop show. That is something Payton can do. But, without any shooting, it will be a lot of dribbling around waiting for the alley oop animation to start.

That might actually work, I suppose.