Projecting the 20 most promising young duos in the NBA

17. Aaron Gordon and Mo Bamba (Orlando Magic)

The Orlando Magic would be more than happy if 23-year-old Aaron Gordon and 21-year-old Mo Bamba mimic the blueprint crafted by Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan when they were racking up accolades with the Clippers not long ago.

Gordon is the super-athletic forward who is built like Luke Cage, but can work some finesse and versatility into his power-based game. He averaged 16.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game last season, and made 40.0 percent of his 3-pointers in Orlando’s first-round playoff series loss to the eventual champion Toronto Raptors.

Bamba is the long and bouncy center who causes disruptions on defense and can’t be ignored on offense unless opponents want to witness an endless loop of alley-oop finishes. The No. 6 pick in the 2018 draft was limited to 47 games in his rookie season thanks to a stress fracture in his leg, and only played 16.3 minutes per game when he was healthy.

Bamba’s per-36-minute averages were impressive, at 13.7 points and 11.0 rebounds to go with 3.0 blocks. He probably won’t be logging starter’s minutes anytime soon, though, as the Magic re-signed signed starting center Nikola Vucevic to a $100.0 million deal this summer.

Even if he’s coming off the bench, if Bamba gets healthy and stays healthy, he can become a solid contributor to what could become one of the league’s best frontcourt rotations.