Should Aaron Gordon’s slump be concerning?
Aaron Gordon did not bat an eye when he said his ideal summer was to get paid the max. This was supreme confidence in self, something Gordon has never been short on. It was not unequivocal by any means — he certainly would take less than the max, it seems. But he believes he is worthy of that max contract designation.
Maybe it is just some early negotiating posture.
Gordon had a great season. A breakout season for him after struggling in his first three seasons. He finished averaging 17.6 points per game and shooting 43.4 percent from the floor and 33.6 percent from beyond the arc. Gordon averaged career highs in almost every mark and led the team in scoring.
He established himself as the best player on the team. And while he had plenty of growing pains as he tried to navigate a path to stardom, he also had some undeniably great moments. Enough to give him a max contract? That might still be going a bit too far.
The shades of that fast start case strongly on Gordon.
In his first 25 games, Gordon shot 49.2 percent from the floor and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc to average 18.1 points per game. This is the Gordon everyone wants to remember and believe in. the Gordon who was shooting cleanly and keeping the ball moving, never holding onto it for too long.
If Gordon becomes this version of himself, he will be well worth whatever the Magic end up paying him this summer.
It is the other side of the coin that concerns everyone. In the final 32 games of his season, Gordon still averaged a robust 17.1 points per game. But he shot 39.7 percent from the floor and 29.0 percent from beyond the arc.
About the only thing anyone can conclude about Gordon after this season is he figured out how to score. Or put up raw numbers. Now the question becomes whether Gordon can recreate the efficiency that marked the first quarter of his season.
Gordon said some of his shooting struggles might have been because he lost his rhythm as he dealt with concussions and calf injuries toward the end of the season.
Indeed, he missed seven of eight games through December with an initial concussion. He missed another nine games in late January with another concussion. And then a five-game set in March with a calf injury.
Each time it felt like he needed some time to get himself going.
For sure, Gordon’s real shooting percentage is somewhere between these two extremes. But it is also easy to see Gordon falling into the traps that led him to shoot the way he did to close the season.