Aaron Gordon punishes the rim against Sacramento
In the Orlando Magic’s game against the Sacramento Kings Monday night, power forward Aaron Gordon punished yet another unsuspecting rim with a monster dunk.
On pretty much a nightly basis, it’s safe to say Aaron Gordon is here to do two things: Chew bubblegum, and throw down rim-punishing dunks.
We don’t know if he’s out of bubblegum yet, but he’s certainly not out of rim-punishing dunks.
With the Orlando Magic visiting a Sacramento Kings team that had lost eight straight games Monday, there was an opportunity for a rare win. Then again, the Magic hadn’t exactly been setting the league on fire lately, losing 24 of their 33 games since the calendar flipped to 2017.
However, with Aaron Gordon finally healthy and Serge Ibaka traded to the Toronto Raptors, there’s been more time for the promising young power forward at his natural spot. The Magic are heading for another high lottery pick, but at least Gordon has been showing signs of progress over the last few weeks.
Early in the first quarter Monday night, Elfrid Payton found Gordon cutting toward the rim and hit him with a perfect bounce pass in stride. Gordon gathered the ball as the entire Kings defense backed off, giving him more than enough space to absolutely hammer the ball through the rim:
https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/841481944462381056
At the end of the first quarter, Gordon had four points on 2-of-5 shooting along with two personal fouls. The Magic trailed 24-23 at that point.
On the season, Gordon hasn’t taken the leap many were expecting, averaging 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 27.2 percent from 3-point range.
However, he’s still only 21 years old, he’s only just starting to log significant minutes at his true position and he’s also just getting over a right foot injury that may have impacted his performance in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest.
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With Gordon’s athleticism and clear defensive talent on display, here’s hoping the Magic give him a chance to properly develop — unlike some of their other young prospects in recent seasons.