2017-18 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Aaron Gordon

The Good and the Bad

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/18/2018.

No one was really sure what to expect from Aaron Gordon this year. Everyone knew it was a contract year and the Magic had to make a decision about him. At some point, his potential had to pay off with production. And it had to be this year.

Gordon made sure to announce himself as something more than a dunking athlete through the first wave of games, quickly establishing himself as the best player on the team. Or at least the one with the brightest future.

His scoring average remained solid all year, but it was the way he scored that made its mark throughout the year. Gordon was not merely getting out in transition and scoring on dunks. Gordon’s game completely expanded.

He was taking more 3-pointers than ever before — a career-high 5.9 per game. He was more comfortable shooting outside the arc and his efficiency from there rose with it. That 33.6 percent shooting is nothing to write home about, but it was still Gordon’s career high. And he certainly can still improve considering the leaps he has already made there.

Gordon also worked more off the dribble than ever before. His whole shot profile just completely changed. Perhaps too much at times.

No one probably foresaw Gordon becoming such a dynamic scoring threat. He posted four games with 30 points or more and two with 40 points or more. That added 3-point shot helped grow his game in that regard.

Coach Frank Vogel often said in those games that Aaron Gordon’s scoring came largely within the “flow of the offense.” Indeed, it looked like Gordon was getting ball reversals and attacking quickly.

Where Gordon got himself in trouble throughout the year was when he slowed things down and tried to attack set defenses. Or when he tried to dribble too much.

Orlando Magic

Gordon got the star bug. He certainly was scoring like it. And too often he tried to play like how he might think a star should play rather than how he plays best in the end. Too often, Gordon was trying to force his shot, holding the ball too long as he tried to break down his man.

Gordon is not quite the playmaker to isolate quite yet. And he will have to improve as the ball handler in pick and rolls and passing off drives. There were still hints he could take these leaps. But, for now, defenses were able to sucker him into isolating and trying to probe the defense. This often led to a contested mid-range shot.

That might explain why Gordon’s field goal percentage dipped so much. In his first 25 games, Gordon averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting 49.2 percent from the floor and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc. In his final 32 games, Gordon averaged 17.1 points per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the floor and 29.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Gordon can clearly put up the raw numbers. But efficiency is the next trick he will have to learn. That is always a difficult thing for budding stars.