Orlando Magic Preseason: 5 things we have learned so far

Aaron Gordon Gets It

One of the enduring storylines — yes, we have pushed it too — for this season has been the potential for Aaron Gordon to make a leap into stardom. Everyone is eager to see how Gordon grows from a solid year last year that saw his scoring drop to 16.0 points per game but saw him hit career-high levels everywhere else.

There was a seeming push-and-pull with Gordon throughout all of last season.

Early on, he tried to play as he did in 2018 where he was on the ball and trying to isolate too much. Coach Steve Clifford had to fight him on that a bit — with a high-profile timeout and seeming chiding during an early-season game against the Boston Celtics.

Clifford’s vision for Gordon was to make the All-Defensive team and to get Gordon back to his defensive roots. By all metrics and reported measurements from the P3 lab as a rookie and some reporting from his time at the Mamba Sports Academy this summer, Gordon has some of the fastest reaction times of any player in the league.

Gordon has the potential to be a strong defensive player. After a playoff run where he was good, but not good enough against Kawhi Leonard, Aaron Gordon should be recommitted to being the team’s top perimeter defender (he should have competition and help on that front).

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But the promise for Gordon is coming on the offensive end. He said he committed to being better in the post to take advantage of smaller defenders when they switch onto him. And that focus on his footwork should help other aspects of his game.

Mainly the big thing with Gordon is to increase his efficiency while also allowing him the freedom to be aggressive. Gordon shot 44.9 percent overall and with a 50.7 percent effective field goal percentage. That was with a career-best 34.9 percent 3-point shooting.

Gordon this preseason is averaging 30.3 points per 36 minutes on a 69.0 percent effective field goal percentage. These are granted small sample sizes — just 52 total minutes. He has hit only 4 of his 11 3-point attempts. But Gordon has been more aggressive and assertive driving to the basket.

What has been most impressive is, to this point, he has kept himself within the offense. There has not been the over dribbling isolation plays that are part of his worse impulses as a scorer. He has taken advantage of the team’s increased pace and has been a solid slasher to get himself into a good scoring position.

The Magic’s shot distribution will change as the regular season approaches. But right now, it feels like Gordon is finding his ways to score within the confines of the offense. And the results have been good.