When the Nuggets acquired Aaron Gordon from the Magic in March 2021, coach Michael Malone didn’t have a special role in mind for Gordon, the fourth-place finisher in the 14 draft. Gordon wasn’t asked to become the team’s second leading scorer or asked to focus solely on his perimeter defense. Instead, the message was simple.
“They just told me to be me,” says Gordon.
Now, nearly two years after the trade, with a fully intact roster finally in place, Denver is thriving. The Nuggets are in first place in the West, having gone 18-3 since Dec. 8. After defeating the Timberwolves on Wednesday, the Nuggets have won eight in a row. And Gordon has been integral to their success, averaging 16.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per night while shooting 58.8% from the floor.
“This is definitely one of the best seasons I’ve seen from AG by far,” spark plug guard Bones Hyland said recently. “He works the junkyard for us, and I feel like he doesn’t get a lot of praise. So definitely AG is an All-Star for sure.”
Gordon has built his All-Star cause this season, as he’s been a two-way demon for the Denver hot team. He is third on the team in scoring despite having the fifth most shots. He is the strongest defender in their perimeter, beating the opposition’s top scorer on a semi-night basis.
Offensively, Gordon’s chemistry with Nikola Jokic allows him to find easy bucket after easy bucket. If Jokić has the ball on the elbow and helps the defenders start crawling towards him, Gordon will dash along the baseline and cut to the cordon for two before the assists realize they’ve lost him. He also becomes a killer checker, especially when he makes selections for Jokić. Gordon is adept at taking advantage of the large bodies guarding Jokic and is not used to hopping between screens like the guards. He often finds two fast sliding screens facing centers that start to panic when he approaches. And good luck putting a smaller body on Gordon, as he’ll immediately bully them into the paint and get in a position to get in.
On the other end of the floor, Gordon is usually tasked with slowing down the high-powered wingers, whether it’s Kawhi Leonard one night or LeBron James another. He wasn’t exactly called upon as an ocean stopper during his Magic days, it’s a role Gordon has embraced with the Nuggets, describing himself as a “piece of the puzzle” to the team’s success. And that willingness to do whatever the team needs to do, from cutting to putting up screens to chasing scorers, is what put Gordon into the All-Star conversation.
“They know I’m a Swiss Army knife; I can do a lot of different things on court,” Gordon says of his role. “They needed someone who could be the glue. I can play one to five, and if I need to that night, I can do that.”
The Magic has never been able to harness Gordon’s talent the way the Nuggets have. Gordon admits his experience in Orlando was frustrating, as the team was in constant turmoil both on and off the field. The Magic never found the right mix of players around Gordon to help him play his best basketball. (They strangely added so many forwards to the roster despite having Gordon already on the team.) This year for the Nuggets, Gordon averaged the second most points per game in his career despite not being the first, second, or Maybe even the third option in attack.
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“There is a culture here,” Gordon says. “In Orlando we were looking for a culture, looking for an identity, and it was tough. We’ve had five different coaches in five years. Two different sets of GMs. Coming into the league, it was hard figuring that out.”
“When we were here, we knew what was going on. It’s a winning organization. It’s got an MVP and a lot of All-Star caliber players. Coming here, it was easy to be myself, to go out there and be where I’m at.”
“What I’m probably most proud of is that he didn’t fight it,” Malone said of Gordon in December. “Last season we didn’t have Michael [Porter Jr.] And beauty [Murray]And we’ve got some very talented offensive players, and Aaron didn’t fight touches, the play calls. If I don’t call his number he doesn’t frown; He’s not complaining, “I don’t get enough calls to play.” He finds ways to influence the game, rebounding, sprinting, getting on the edge, and serving; That’s why all of these numbers are so high.”
Gordon enjoys playing for a team like the Nuggets. He ensures that everyone plays the right way, makes the right pass to the next man and feeds on Jokic’s unselfishness. (Gordon says his motive is to win a championship for Jokic. “He deserves it.”)
And as far as his individual improvement goes, Gordon says his game is much lower than it was in Orlando. He’s now better at picking his spots and knowing when to go into certain moves.
“I’m still kind of moving,” he says. “I had a lot in my bag but didn’t know when to use it.”
Gordon’s individual success now also impacts winning like never before. During Denver’s 18-3 stretch, the team had the best offense in the NBA and perhaps most importantly, the eighth best defense out of the likes of Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Golden State since December 8th. Frequently mentioning the goal of winning the championship, when pressed directly on the topic, Gordon admits that making an All-Star team would mean a lot to him after the adjustments he made in his career.
He’d even be willing to do the only thing people bothered about if it were to secure his place.
“If I were in the All-Star Game, I would be in the dunk competition,” says Gordon, who competed in 2016 and 20 contests but controversially lost both.
However, the All-Star issue should not come down to Gordon. If he continues to play the way he’s been all season — if Gordon stays himself — then getting him out of the All-Star Game will be a harder sell than putting him in the game.
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