Orlando Magic: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Storyline 1: What’s Aaron Gordon’s ceiling?

For the first half of last season, Aaron Gordon’s production had very much mirrored his first two seasons in the league: Flashes of brilliance, but wildly inconsistent. However, as we learned in the latter part of last season, both the Magic and Gordon may have found a solution.

Live Feed

Orlando Magic Daily

As touched upon earlier, the Magic had an extremely active summer of 2016. One of their moves involved trading for power forward Serge Ibaka. While a productive player in his own right, the acquisition of Ibaka from the outset looked like it would come at the detriment of Gordon’s development. With Ibaka being a certified stretch-4, this meant Gordon would be forced to primarily play as the team’s small forward.

But following Ibaka’s midseason trade, Gordon began to flourish when given the license as the Magic’s power forward. Over the final 21 games of the season, Gordon averaged 17.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in 32.1 minutes per game. Compared to his numbers of 11.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per game over his first 59 games, this represents a significant difference.

So while Gordon has all the physical gifts, most notably his phenomenal athleticism, the next step in his game is clearly going to be his effectiveness from the perimeter. Over his career, Gordon has shot at a 28.9 percent clip from 3-point range. In the modern-day game of pace-and-space and stretching the floor, this is clearly high on the list of things Gordon needs to refine.

Last season, Gordon converted at just a 27.1 percent clip from long range, and shot 45.4 percent overall from the field. While these returns are far from optimal, Gordon has demonstrated that he possesses the ability to knock down the 3-point shot. In five games where he attempted seven or more 3-pointers, Gordon connected at a 45.0 percent clip, with two of these games in the final six games if the season.

Overall, Gordon’s strongest area on the field was within five feet of the rim, where he finished at a 66.9 percent clip. Among all forwards who attempted at least 4.0 attempts per game from this range, Gordon ranked eighth overall. At the 4-spot, Gordon is bound two make the most of his athletic gift more frequently, as head coach Frank Vogel touched upon during the midst of last season following the trade of Ibaka:

"“Speed is beating size league-wide right now,” Vogel said. “What you saw [against the Hawks] with Aaron — it was an example of that. He was able to beat his man off the bounce — not just in regular close-out situations but being a screener and getting the ball as the roller in pick-and-rolls. “He made some great, great plays. He’s getting the ball now with space and no one between him and the basket, whereas when he was playing on the perimeter, they were backing up and there was a body in front of him at all times.”"

But while Gordon’s move to the 4-spot will benefit him offensively, it’s on the defensive end that Gordon should benefit the most. Coach Vogel touched on this topic during the midst of last season following the trade of Ibaka:

"“Everybody’s now in their right position, quite frankly. I think Aaron being a four is better for him. He did well at the three defensively, but he’s better at the four.”"

So with a short sample size last season, and a fresh campaign ahead of him, Gordon and the Magic will be eagerly awaiting to see just how much the 22-year-old can develop this upcoming season.