Gordon excited about move to SF, increased role in Magic offense
New Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel is getting creative with his lineups in order to incorporate all of his bigs effectively, including moving 6-foot-9 Aaron Gordon to small forward.
Vogel had one of the premier small forwards in the game at his disposal with the Indiana Pacers in Paul George, and now that he's in Orlando, he hopes to utlize Gordon in a similar fashion by putting the basketball in his hands more.
"It's definitely a compliment," Gordon said Saturday, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins.
"I'm going to be myself and I'm going to play my game, and that's ultimately going to be the most beneficial for us if I play how I play, not try and play like anybody else. I love the idea of being more of a playmaker and taking on a bigger scoring role. That's something that I'm going to have to do for us to be successful and I'm ready for that."
The 21-year-old was essentially being groomed for such a role change last season when he spent a career-high 40 percent of his minutes at the three spot, averaging 9.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game.
Shooting the rock continues to be his Achilles' heel, though, and something he'll need to improve upon quickly in order to spread the floor and create more breathing room for his frontcourt teammates. Gordon connected on just 29.8 percent of his 3-point attempts, and a putrid 31.4 percent of his jump shots.
"We're going to ask him to do it all," Vogel said. "We're going to give him a lot of responsibility."
"It's going to be a process with him. He's not used to playing the three, but that's going to come. He's got the skills and the ability to do it, or I wouldn't be putting him in that spot. It's going to be ugly at times. But, hopefully, more times than not it's going to be pretty impressive. And I'm excited about that."
Gordon finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and one 3-pointer in 27 minutes on Friday in a 114-106 win for the Magic over the Pacers in preseason action.