3 players Orlando Magic’s Aaron Gordon should study before season begins

Shawn Kemp

Shawn Kemp was a first-round selection back in 1989 but was picked later in the draft than Aaron Gordon was as he was drafted 17th overall to the Seattle SuperSonics after going through a junior college rather than the traditional college route.

Kemp took the league by storm and became a fixture on one of the best teams of the 1990s.

The two power forwards share similarities as Kemp was extremely athletically gifted like Gordon. But Kemp was a more skilled scoring threat for his Sonics.

Orlando Magic

Now Kemp was never considered a dynamic 25-point-per-game scorer throughout his career but still managed to make six straight NBA All-Star appearances from 1992-98. He finished his 16.2 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game in his eight seasons in Seattle. He only averaged 20 points per game once in his career — that was in 1999 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But Kemp was a must-see player. He was one of the best defenders in the league too. And while he played like a more traditional power forward, he is not too dissimilar to Gordon and how he plays.

The Magic organization is still waiting on Gordon to morph into an All-Star caliber player.

Gordon needs to watch film on the way Kemp competed as an offensive threat and how his athleticism demanded attention from defenders. Kemp had great footwork to work the post, leveraging that to use his athleticism. And he just loved to get out on the run and finish at the rim. This is an area the Magic could work to get Gordon more involved.

This is a skill set as well and can take the pressure off of players like Nikola Vucevic if Aaron Gordon was to use his skill set similar to how Kemp used his speed, quickness and jumping ability to translate to success in the 1990s.