Nikola Vucevic’s return will be key to unlocking Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon has been as inconsistent as any player on the Orlando Magic. Nikola Vucevic’s return will undoubtedly help him find his rhythm again.

Coach Steve Clifford was upset with a lot of things following Wednesday’s blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

The team’s transition defense was more or less non-existent. The attention to detail and intensity on both ends was not there. Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong in every way imaginable.

Facing an opportunity without Nikola Vucevic on the floor — rightfully out to spend time with his wife and newborn son — the Orlando Magic’s key players struggled to elevate their games to make up for him.

Evan Fournier carried the team through the first quarter with seven of his 12 points in the opening period. But he struggled to get much going after.

Aaron Gordon, the team’s highest-paid player and nascent star player, struggled to get much of anything going. He dished out seven assists in a sign of his growing playmaking and how his game has expanded. But he struggled to find his own shot.

Aaron Gordon finished with 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting. Through three quarters he had just six field goal attempts. It was a struggle for him to get much of anything going. The Spurs did a good job doubling him when he got the ball in the post. And the team’s overall poor offensive showing had Gordon reverting back to some of his overdribbling tendencies.

There were a lot of things the Magic needed to do better. One of the many things coach Clifford pointed toward himself at after that game was his need to get Gordon in better scoring opportunities.

Clifford identified three areas where Gordon is best at scoring — in transition, off offensive rebounds and on cuts.

All three are typically good signs of the Magic’s offense.

If they are scoring in transition, it means the team is getting stops and catching opponents while they are scrambling back. Gordon scores 13.8 percent of his points on fast-break points, the most of any rotation player on the roster.

If he is scoring on offensive rebounds, it means the team is playing with a lot of intensity in attacking the glass. Gordon averages 1.8 offensive rebounds per game, but he takes advantage of mismatches and mix-ups really well.

It is on cuts that the Magic struggled the most Wednesday night. And part of that at least was the absence of Nikola Vucevic. Clifford said it best no player missed Vucevic more than Gordon because of the versatility Vucevic provides as a shooter stretching defenses outside the paint and as a passer.

Gordon has had no one pass to him more than Vucevic and no one has more assists for him than Vucevic. That might be true for a lot of players on the team. Vucevic makes the team a whole lot better and has established himself as the team’s best player, at least for this year.

Their connection is pretty clear when watching them play. And it is the way to get Gordon in motion and heading toward the basket to score most efficiently for him:

With Vucevic holding the ball in the high post, Gordon is able to cut and move whether it is around the 3-point line for an open three or posting up a smaller defender for an easy jam.

This is Gordon at his absolute best. Give him the space to operate — either in transition or in the half-court — and he will take that space with verve. Force him to work against a set defense that can load up on him and he will struggle.

This is probably what Frank Vogel meant by playing within the flow of the offense. Clifford has echoed some of these same sentiments, albeit with his own coach-isms.

But no one has done more to unlock Gordon than Vucevic.

According to NBA.com’s stats database, only point guard D.J. Augustin has passed to Aaron Gordon more this year than Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic is passing to Gordon 6.8 times per game. That could mean anything, so who knows how effective those passes are, right?

They could be a simple inbounds pass or pass off a floppy set to initiate a play or they could be a pass like this one:

There is a bit of an unspoken chemistry between the two that has been built over years of playing together. It has truly been unlocked this year with the Magic’s improved spacing and fully trusting of Vucevic as a bit of a point center in the offense.

Vucevic averages 1.1 assists per game to Gordon alone (he has 3.7 assists per game). It is fair to say Vucevic and Gordon is one of the more potent assisting combinations the Magic have. For a team that relies heavily on its passing and cutting, that is a lot of work.

No player accounts for more assists to Gordon than Vucevic.

Diving further, Gordon shoots 2.9 field goal attempts per game off Vucevic’s passes, also the most of any teammate. That is out 13.3 field goal attempts per game. More impressively, Gordon is shooting 51.4 percent off Vucevic’s passes.

It would certainly suggest Vucevic is passing to Gordon in situations where he can score.

Whether it is the high-low sets like the ones shown above or putting Vucevic in the high post for Gordon to cut through the lane freely or get a screen from someone else to hit a 3-pointer or sucking in attention because of his shooting.

It is not necessarily about Vucevic’s passes but the attention he receives that frees up Gordon, but that he sucks up attention from the defense that allows Gordon the freedom of motion and movement and space to attack the basket. It gives his game a much-needed boost.

Gordon’s offense is not solely tied to Vucevic obviously. He has plenty of other aspects of his game and plenty of other ways he scores. Other players contribute to Gordon and Gordon creates his own offense.

But compare the spacing in the clips above to what Gordon faced against the Spurs on Wednesday and it is night and day.

Gordon has had his ups and downs this year. He has been stellar in wins — 18.4 points per game on a 59.7 percent effective field goal percentage. But in losses, he has struggled — 13.1 points per game on a 45.0 percent effective field goal percentage.

The Magic’s play really has gone as Gordon has gone. And so the Magic need to find the best way to keep Gordon involved naturally within the offense.

That falls as much on Gordon as it does on Clifford getting Gordon better shots.

It was easy to see the team’s general lack of activity in Wednesday’s loss. Adding Vucevic back to the mix will almost certainly help.