Orlando Magic: Can Aaron Gordon become an All-Star in 2018-19?

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How he can

The 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game he averaged last season represent really good numbers for a 22-year-old in his fourth season.

On a championship contending team, those numbers 100 percent deserve heavy consideration for a spot in the All-Star Game. However, on a team that won only 25 games where he wasn’t even the leading scorer (Fournier averaged 17.8 points per game), those numbers will get you a soft golf clap.

First off, he will need to be a 20-10 guy, minimum. Honestly, more like 22-12. He will also need to absolutely show out in a few games with some crazy stat lines, kind of like Lou Williams did with his 50-point game, or 10-steal performance last year (I’m still mad at that snub).

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Gordon had two 40-point, 14+ rebound games last year. If given even more of the reins on offense next year, he will have the ability to reach that 20-point mark most games. Rebounding improvements might be stymied by new center Mohamed Bamba’s long limbs and Jonathan Isaac being more involved as well. I expect Gordon to average around 7-9 in this category, which means scoring will have to be at a premium.

As mentioned above, the Magic are never on TV. They are a consistent afterthought nationally. To gather some attention for himself, and the team, Gordon’s going to need to dunk on someone so hard they are forced to retire. Hopefully Brandon Knight is standing somewhere near the paint when the Magic play the Phoenix Suns later this year.

Gordon will need to average a post on House of Highlights or Bleacher Report at least once a week. Going viral on Twitter and Instagram these days is key, especially when no pays attention to your team. Maybe Gordon could start tweeting some wild stuff, a la Joel Embiid, and start a campaign to get himself on the team. AG has had many highlight plays in the past, but this year he’ll need to ramp up the show even more.

Along with going viral, Gordon will probably need some luck. On both All-Star teams last year, only three players made it without being on a winning team, two of which, Andre Drummond and Kemba Walker were injury replacements for Kristaps Porzingis — the other non-winning team member — and John Wall. Both Drummond and Walker had previously made All-Star teams, so the precedence was there.

For Gordon to be considered, I think he will need to be a replacement player. With new Eastern Conference players like Kawhi Leonard and Blake Griffin and surging guys like Khris Middleton and Jayson Tatum, it’s going to be a crowded field — especially since these players are bigger names on better teams.

Gordon has all the potential in the world. I expect the Magic to better than a 25-win team this year and who knows? Maybe with a solid early season, with Gordon killing it, he could sneak in.

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