Aaron Gordon focused on Orlando Magic’s future

Aaron Gordon got his contract taken care of quickly this summer. Now he has his eyes set on what he hopes is a bright future for the Orlando Magic.

When the Orlando Magic took Aaron Gordon with the fourth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, he was a bundle of athletic potential. The Magic were investing instead in a player’s future and that they would be able to develop him into something.

Then-general manager Rob Hennigan would say in reference to some other players that you tend to know what a player’s potential or ceiling is by the time they reach the end of their rookie contract. Four years is a lot of time to develop.

Even through all the false starts and missed opportunities with Gordon and his development in Orlando, Gordon finally found a comfort zone last year and had a breakout year.

Now Gordon is hoping to turn that into team success. But he knows the Magic still have a young team. But it is time to put everything together as an individual and as a team.

He sat down with WKMG News Channel 6 reporter Jamie Seh to discuss his hopes for the upcoming season, saying he has never been more focused in his life. But knowing that he and the team still have a lot of work to get things together.

"“You’ve got to bear with us. This is a new coaching staff for the fourth or fifth time. And a new GM and management. But we’ve got it together now. Everything seems to be clicking. We’ve got a bunch of young, new talent. Everything looks good.”"

The Magic are hoping to put everything together after five years lost in the wilderness during their failed rebuild. There have been plenty of talk from players about the direction for the team. Most of it positive.

But there is still a lot of young players who have to improve. And that includes Gordon.

Finally with some coaching stability, a more defined role and a healthy summer and training camp, Gordon finally seemed to cash in on that talent. He averaged a career-high 17.6 points per game and shot 33.6 percent from beyond the arc, the first time he shot better than 30 percent from three.

At 22 years old, Gordon reached restricted free agent. But he still had a lot of growth to go. And that fourth year finally showed what he could become.

He posted his career-high in scoring with multiple 30-point games. His scorching start to the season brought a lot of hope that Gordon could turn into the star the Magic have desperately searched for. His close showed he still has a lot to learn about growing into a starring player in this league.

Now he has to find a way to match that and improve. The Magic clearly were willing to invest in him. And Gordon is clearly putting in the work.

Free agency brought some uncertainty. But the team quickly wrapped him up with a four-year, $76-million deal with the potential to grow even more. It was a team-friendly front-loaded deal. But the investment remained nonetheless. Orlando was continuing to bet Gordon will keep growing.

Gordon said his free agency was stressful for him. He waited for the call and for the contract to come through. Eventually, it did within the first day of free agency. Perhaps the realities of the market came to bear and his camp wanted to get something done quickly. Orlando made its offer and it turned out to be the best he could get on a very tight market.

From there, the focus quickly turned to matching last year’s performance. Gordon has posted plenty of workout videos on his Instagram. And has spent some time in Orlando.

And coach Steve Clifford has high hopes for what Gordon can become, especially on the defensive end. If Orlando is going to put things together, Gordon will be a major part of it.

The focus is clearly on the team’s future and Gordon’s own future. Now they all have to make good on it.