3 trades that would help the Orlando Magic hit restart
By Tim Monaghan
A reset for Aaron Gordon
Speaking of Aaron Gordon, it makes sense to move him now.
Gordon has shown flashes of being a player deemed worthy of being drafted with the fourth pick back in 2014. But he has never put it all together over a full season.
His consistency and injury issues just make it too tough to rely upon him.
Throw in the fact Chuma Okeke looks like a promising rookie power forward in Gordon’s absence and it makes sense to trade him. Especially since Jonathan Isaac can play strictly at the 4 when he is healthy next season.
Gordon is a good defender, can create his own shot, handle the ball and even can hit mid-range shots at a respectable rate. But he often is too inefficient because of his struggles with over dribbling, shot selection, costly turnovers and a proclivity to over-rely on his athleticism.
Trading him and even Al-Farouq Aminu to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins and a lottery-protected first-rounder or at least a second rounder makes sense from a pragmatic standpoint.
Wiggins may not have ever lived up to his billing as the number one pick back in 2014, but he can still be a borderline All-Star in the right situation. He also would improve Orlando on the offensive end instantly because he is the Warriors’ second-leading scorer and has always been a solid player on that end of the floor.
Let’s not forget that so far this season, he is averaging his second-most blocked shots per game, crashing the glass with a career-high in rebounds, has his highest three-point percentage of his career and his best defensive rating, too. He has grown tremendously on defense in the Warriors’ highly stable and structured system. He might find similar comforts in Orlando under Steve Clifford.
He has also been remarkably durable throughout his career, playing in more than 80 games four times in his career and so far, he has not missed a game so far for the Warriors this season.
His contract is not ideal since he is due approximately $30-million annually for the next two years beyond this season. But it is cancelled out by moving on from two injury-prone players.
Plus, Aminu is unequivocally the Magic’s worst contract on the roster. If Orlando can accrue a pick in this hypothetical trade, then it is definitely worth it to pull the trigger on this move.