Orlando Magic: Could Aaron Gordon return to small forward?

The Orlando Magic will need to get creative in their pursuit of a playoff berth this season, and diversifying Aaron Gordon’s role may help with this.

Although the Orlando Magic started the year as the surprise package of the league, they have cooled off considerably in dropping back to 7-4 on the season.

There is no shame in that whatsoever, and really it was to be expected. Their hot start simply was not sustainable. Despite losing a few before their bounce-back win over the New York Knicks, however, they still sit third in the East, a remarkable achievement given how they were expected to do this season.

Part of this team’s newfound ability to blow teams out of the water early in games and hold onto leads they’ve built, leading to enjoyable wins, has come through roster flexibility.

When Elfrid Payton and D.J. Augustin went down with injuries, there was Jonathon Simmons filling in as point guard for periods in the game.

If opposing big men hang around the paint too much, center Nikola Vucevic can play as a glorified power forward and stroke the 3-pointer (career high 41.7 percent so far this season).

As a result of players having multiple roles on this team it gives them more weapons to win a game.

With that in mind, should they possibly returned to the failed Aaron Gordon to small forward experiment of before?

For those of you who don’t remember, when head coach Frank Vogel took over the team last season, he had notions on exactly the kind of player Gordon could be. He had shown flashes at his more comfortable position at the 4, but Vogel felt he had more to offer playing the smaller forward position.

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It didn’t work. Gordon lacked the necessary abilities to threaten from that area, looking unsure of himself as he did so.

The player then came into this season having not received an early contract extension from the Magic. He will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Boy has Gordon taken that snub to heart however, and he has been on a tear so far this year. So much so, in fact, that could a return to playing the 3 more permanently be on the cards?

The reason Gordon works so well in his current position is how quickly he can blow by taller and slower players. That and he is supremely gifted physically.

But the one key ingredient that was missing from his failed stint as a small forward last season, consistent shooting, has been present in abundance for Gordon so far this year.

Right now he is shooting an outrageous 57.5 percent from 3-point range, despite being a career 31.2 percent shooter from there.

https://twitter.com/JoshEberley/status/928294667245928448

He has already hit more threes (23) than he did in his whole rookie year (13) and we’re only one-10th of the way through the regular season.

To put that in even more perspective, he’s over halfway to reaching his total from Year 2 of his career (42). He has done this while taking only 40 3-pointers, compared to the 142 from that season.

On top of that, Gordon has an effective field goal percentage of 65.1 percent (career 51 percent in this area) — this despite taking two more long range efforts per night than his career average. His stroke looks so much more fluid this season, and any shot he makes looks like it is going to go in.

The outside shot has opened up the whole court for him, so it is no surprise that he is posting the best assists per game (2.1) and offensive rating (108.9) of his young career.

The dunks and the put-backs are still there, and when you factor in the ability to shoot from so many places on the court, the move back to small forward starts to make a lot more sense.

What that would do is allow somebody like Jonathan Isaac, a much more traditional stretch-4, to slide in alongside him and form a terrifying duo for opponents to plan for.

Isaac is averaging just over 20 minutes per night, and he has began life as a professional well, coming off the bench and anchoring the second unit defensively with Bismack Biyombo. In fact, his one block per game average leads this team. To watch him play is to see a guy who forces opponents to alter so many of their shots.

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He’s not a guy like Karl Anthony-Towns, who goes looking to swat shots into oblivion and is occasionally caught out of position as a result. He is patient and gets up vertically when he feels the need to. Right now the Magic have the seventh-best defensive rating in the league (101.1).

But that number could improve even more if a player like Isaac moved to the starting unit, with Gordon sliding down a position to allow that to happen.

If Gordon could become more comfortable at the 3, it would help the team when they invariably get into foul trouble.

That defensive rating is impressive, and it has been built on physical play and gambling on steals and loose balls. As a result, players like Simmons and Terrence Ross have gotten into foul trouble early in some of the games we’ve seen so far this season.

When this happens they have to check out, and it is better to have somebody like Isaac entering the game than the less impressive Mario Hezonja. That’s another reason Gordon should want to be open to playing either forward position. Once again it comes back to that flexibility the team has enjoyed early in the year.

Really the only thing Gordon needs to do now to continue improving at the rapid pace he’s at would be to not fall in love with his outside shooting.

It has opened up new possibilities for him, but there will be times when he goes cold. Remembering what an athletic guy he is around the paint will be important then.

Next: 5 potential Greg Monroe trades

As of now the expanding skill-set of Aaron Gordon points to a guy who might actually be a successful small forward in the NBA in the future, despite what the early returns have looked like. It really has been a great season so far for the Orlando Magic.