Aaron Gordon is on the Pacers offseason wishlist

The Indiana Pacers are planning on making an offer to Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon.

The Indiana Pacers aren’t satisfied with just being a sneaky good team. They are looking to upgrade their roster in order to compete with the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers out East. With over $20 million in cap space, they have their eyes set on Orlando Magic restricted free agent Aaron Gordon.

A max offer sheet from the Pacers would be a four-year, $107 million deal. As a restricted free agent, the Magic will have the chance to match any offer thrown his way. They can get out ahead of any potential offer sheet by offering him their version of the max, which would be a five-year, $146.5 million deal.

At 22 years old, we’ve likely yet to see the best Gordon has to offer. He’s coming off a season where he averaged 17.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists with a shooting line of .434/.336/.698. Despite Gordon’s improvements in his four years in the league, the Magic have yet come close to competing for a playoff spot.

Indiana would not only allow Gordon to play playoff basketball, but it would re-unite him to Victor Oladipo. The two were teammates in Orlando during Gordon’s first two seasons in the league. A duo of Gordon and Oladipo would give Indiana an athletic pairing that would not be kind to opposing rims.

The Pacers came within one game of knocking off the Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. Gordon isn’t a star just yet, but his ceiling is that of an All-Star. Playing alongside this version of Oladipo would accelerate the process.

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Despite the Pacers interest, the ball is in Orlando’s court. Even if the Pacers come at Gordon with an offer sheet, the Magic can match, keeping in Orlando for at least four more seasons. It would seem foolish of Orlando to not match and end up losing their franchise player, but let’s not put anything past the Magic.