Orlando Magic: Reacting to Aaron Gordon’s Instagram workout

On Friday, NBA trainer Chris Brickley released two videos of Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon in a scrimmage. Here I (over)react.

The NBA offseason has quickly turned into an Instagram showcase. If your workouts aren’t posted on the ‘Gram, were you really working out? NBA trainer Chris Brickley recently posted a workout by Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon and he’s an (over)reaction.

Trainers such as Brickleyand Jordon Lawley have made names for themselves as trainers to the stars and have amassed large social media followings.

Perusing their Instagram pages is a “who’s who” of the NBA with guys like Gordon, J.R. Smith, Trae Young, Kevin Durant, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter being featured in his videos in just the last four days.

In the cases of Gordon and KD, it was video footage of a scrimmage on Friday that caught my eye. In the videos Gordon looks like a different player from the past few seasons. Let’s unpack this.

I know that overreacting to a 45-second Instagram video of a scrimmage with pretty relaxed defense is ridiculous (ahem “Hoodie Melo”). It just shows the good parts and Gordon could have dribbled the ball off of his foot five times for all I know.

However, seeing Gordon go up against KD and look successful in doing so was great to see. Even given the parameters of it.

Without a caption, I honestly didn’t even realize it was Gordon to be honest. He looks trimmer and is playing like a guard. His handle looks tight, shot looks great and was finishing in the post well. Of course we see the athleticism on display with the few dunks we see as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm3PWY-lA_a/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

He looks as though he is in the best shape he’s been in since joining the league. After having a career year this past season, Gordon got stupid-paid this offseason. Now he has to prove that he was worth the contract he got.

He is the face of the Orlando Magic franchise now and got paid like it. It’s a lot of pressure for a 23-year-old, but Gordon looks as though he is up for the challenge.

What most impressed me about the video was that it looks as though Gordon was running point for his squad. Gordon’s handle was one of the areas of his game where he could’ve improved the most this offseason.

He did showcase some handle last season, but Gordon really does have some point-forward potential. It’s a fun scenario to think about and for the Magic to be successful next season, the ball is probably going to need to be in his hands a lot this season.

If coach Steve Clifford can draw up some perimeter plays with Gordon at the top running point, it could result in some exciting action. Imagine a screen and roll with Gordon and Mohamed Bamba. Who’s going to stop that?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm1wbJmHIZs/?hl=en&taken-by=cbrickley603

Another aspect of his game that also needed some improvement was his jumpshot. After shooting 50.6 percent  from the field and 44.9 percent  from 3 for the first three months of the season, his shooting fell off a cliff.

From January to April he shot 38.9 percent  from the field and 28.7 percent from 3.

Consistency from the field will be a huge key of Gordon’s game. In the video, he is hitting some deep 3s and finishing in the lane against some tough defense. His shot looks crisp and his stroke looks refined.

If he can maintain a high shooting clip this year, he’s a shoo-in for averaging over 20 points a game, something that hasn’t been done by a Magic player since 2012.

This piece is peak ”August NBA dead period” writing, but it really is hard as a Magic fan to not see this video and be excited. All of Orlando has high hopes and high expectations for Gordon this season.

He still hasn’t hit his ceiling and could become the first Orlando Magic All-Star since Dwight Howard in 2012. He can be the one to make the Magic nationally relevant again and this video is just the start.