Orlando Magic: Is Aaron Gordon living up to his new contract?

With one year of his new contract complete, has Aaron  Gordon lived up to the money the Orlando Magic gave him last summer so far?

This time last year, the Orlando Magic were in a very different place. They had just come off a season in which they went 25-57 and it was unclear if their prolonged rebuild was actually going anywhere.

They had a new front office that was already in place and trying to clean up the mess previous general manager Rob Hennigan had made, but it was proving a difficult task.

A new head coach in Steve Clifford was hired and the organization would go on to draft another big in Mohamed Bamba, despite crying out for a point guard who could be their long-term solution at that position.

The path back to relevancy looked as precarious as ever, which made offering Aaron Gordon an new contract as a free agent after his rookie deal expired a no-brainer.

Gordon, the athletic forward who up to that point was best known for his performances in the slam dunk competition at All-Star weekend, was the kind of exciting young player that the team needed.

He was just yet to take that leap to potential star that many had expected to come after four seasons in the league.

The four-year, $84 million deal was substantial, but was also a good figure for the team.

It is the kind of contract that it would be possible to get out from under if everything went wrong and which also ensured they would be able to add some talent to play along Gordon if he took a massive step forward.

Neither of those scenarios unfolded and yet the Magic still found themselves in a better place by the end of this season, with their first playoff berth in seven years, a 42-40 record and a Southeast Division crown.

Gordon, of course, played his part in the improvements the franchise made, but one year on from that deal, has he lived up to the contract he was given?

A look at the basic numbers doesn’t tell the whole story, but it is a suitable place to start. Gordon actually seeing his scoring and rebounding numbers dip slightly from the previous season, from 17.6 to 16 points per game and 7.9 to 7.4 rebounds per game.

If Gordon was meant to take on a larger role this season, it wasn’t apparent by those numbers.

But this belies the importance of Gordon to the Magic, because this was the season when we realized that he was never going to be the best player on a title winning team in Orlando and that’s all right.

Instead it was his two-way game which blossomed and which more than made up for the stagnation of his basic numbers.

It was clear Gordon immediately felt comfortable in coach Clifford’s defensive system, regularly guarding opponent’s best players each night.

During the regular season, the Magic ranked eighth in defensive rating (107.5), a huge improvement on previous seasons and the reason they were able to pick up notable wins over the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.

When Gordon was on the court however, that number shrunk even more to 105.1, which stretched out across the entire season would have put them second in defensive rating behind only the Milwaukee Bucks (104.9).

Unsurprisingly this was the best mark of Gordon’s career to date as well, and showed how he had become a factor on both ends of the court.

The fact that he didn’t receive a single All-Defensive vote shocking considering how important he was to one of the most improved organization’s in the league during the regular season.

Gordon wasn’t quite the anchor on that end, but he showed enough to feel confident that he will be their best defender for the duration of his current contract, such is his rate of improvement.

Gordon’s scoring output was still important too, and even more so was the way in which he scored. He shot a career high 34.9 percent from deep, and at one point early in the season led the league in this category.

Given every team has multiple long-range shooters capable of going through prolonged hot stretches, that is an impressive feat.

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He looked much more comfortable stepping into these shots, and this ability to hit enough of them opened up the floor for guys like Vucevic to operate successfully out of the post and around the basket.

Morphing into a reliable “3-and-D” player didn’t always look on the cards for Gordon, yet in year one of his new deal he arrived at this point. Playing a style of basketball that is as important as ever in the NBA today.

If all of that wasn’t encouraging enough, two more important developments took place over the course of the season. It wasn’t always apparent that he and Jonathan Isaac could share the court together, Gordon doing most of his better work as a more traditional small forward up to that point in his career.

Instead the two thrived together when on the court, dovetailing seamlessly to give opponents all manner of problems with their ability to switch and defend multiple positions.

This is crucial going forward, as Isaac’s own improvements mean they can both be a part of the core that is being built in Orlando.

Best of all though, was how Gordon played in the playoffs. The five game series against the Toronto Raptors was a difficult one, but Gordon was far and away the Magic’s most consistent and best player during the series.

He didn’t look in any way fazed by the step up in intensity, whereas guys like Nikola Vucevic, an All-Star that season, melted away under the brighter lights.

D.J. Augustin may have hit the shot of the series from the Magic’s perspective, but Gordon was the steady presence when on the court. He upped his 3-point shooting to 40 percent over the course of the series, while doing as good a job as anybody has since in slowing down Kawhi Leonard.

It was so encouraging to know that, when the Magic get back to that point, they will have a player in Gordon who will step up to the occasion. That in itself is a priceless quality for a young team that are now finding their way, and is going to need those experiences down the road in the future.

All of which is to say, Aaron Gordon has more than lived up to his contract with the Orlando Magic so far. He’s settled into the role of best defender on the team, while also not being the best or most celebrated player.

Some of the flash has gone from his game, replaced by a substance that it was not always apparent would come. He is a key piece of their future and he was re-signed at a fair price given all he has done so far. He’s still only 23, so the best is yet to come.