Tag: Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon will do the Dunk Contest if he makes the All-Star Game, and we need this to happen

This is the best season of Aaron Gordon’s career.

The NBA Dunk Contest is really boring when Aaron Gordon isn’t involved, and the league needs him back in there to spice things up.

Gordon, who starred in arguably the best dunk contest ever against Zach LaVine in 2016, has experienced multiple controversial losses. He has even dropped a diss track about Dwyane Wade for robbing him of a win in 2020.

It would be hard for him to recreate the magic of 2016, but the dunk contest clearly means a lot to Gordon. In fact, the Denver forward says that he wears No. 50 for the Nuggets to represent a perfect score.

Although he has sworn that he will never do the dunk contest again, Gordon recently told SI.com’s Rohan Nadkarni that he would do the dunk contest if he made the All-Star Game.

Gordon would be an excellent addition to a dunk contest that is currently highlighted by Portland Trail Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe, Houston Rockets forward K.J. Martin, and Mac McClung — the first-ever G League player to participate in the dunk contest.

It would be very nice to see Gordon, who already threw down the best dunk of the season thus far, back in the dunk contest. But it would be just as good to see him in the All-Star Game, and he deserves a spot.

The Nuggets are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and Gordon is in the midst of the best season he has ever played. Based on his productivity, an All-Star nod is well within reason.

thinkingbasketball.net

As his rim frequency reaches a career-high (he trails Giannis Antetokounmpo by five for the most dunks in the NBA), his shooting efficiency is also better than ever.

Denver’s point differential with Gordon on the floor ranks as the third-best in the league and advanced stats — like Estimated Plus-Minus — suggest that he is having his most impactful season to date.

dunksandthrees.com

Gordon, who is also shooting a personal-best 37.6 percent on 3-pointers, is a do-it-all forward for the Nuggets and he is integral to all of their success on the court.

He has found a perfect role within their organization and he would be a fantastic addition to the 2023 NBA All-Star Game and the 2023 NBA Dunk Contest.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01gp1x90emjt3n6txc image=]

[lawrence-related id=1997268]

[listicle id=1999361]

Aaron Gordon had the best dunk of the season during an overtime win on Christmas for the Nuggets

Aaron Gordon has the second-most dunks of anyone in the NBA this season.

Denver’s Aaron Gordon is no stranger to absolutely ridiculous dunks.

The 6-foot-9 forward from the University of Arizona had two of the all-time best performances in the history of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, though he failed to win in either 2016 or 2020.

Gordon has thrown down 85 dunks so far this season, which ranks as the second-best in the NBA behind only Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He had 7 dunks against the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day. That was the second-highest total of his career and tied for the most on record in an NBA game played on Christmas.

But he had one dunk in overtime that probably should have counted for six dunks because it was so impressive and had such a high impact on the final outcome of the game.

Gordon sprinted the ball up the court in transition before he eventually took off from an impossibly far distance. Phoenix’s Landry Shamet was waiting to take a charge, but Gordon was already set to take flight.

The officials originally called a charge on Gordon but reversed the call and Denver increased their 1-point lead to a 3-point deficit.

You can watch every angle of Gordon’s wild accomplishment below:

This was a big win for the Nuggets, who now enjoy sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

Gordon, meanwhile, is enjoying what is arguably the best campaign of his professional career thus far. He has become one of the most efficient players in the league, especially when scoring at the rim.

In fact, the only players with more total shots made at the rim this season are just Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James.

Gordon, who is averaging 17.5 points per game and shooting a career-best 39.0 percent on 3-pointers, deserves serious consideration for the 2023 All-Star Game.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5x3v4hcz7e10g image=]

[lawrence-related id=1997167,1997126,1997105,1997086]

[listicle id=1990025]

The Warriors’ new ‘death lineup’ didn’t look so deadly in Game 5 against the Nuggets

The Nuggets figured out the key to beating the Warriors’ new lineup

For the first time in three years, the Warriors are moving on to the second round of the postseason after putting the Nuggets away. They’ll either play the Memphis Grizzlies or the Minnesota Timberwolves.

They did it by finally winning their first closeout game in the postseason since the 2019 Western Conference Finals. Of course, it wasn’t easy. Closeout games are almost never easy.

But in this particular game, the Warriors struggled quite a bit. After building a small lead against the Nuggets in the first half, the Warriors fell down by as much as 10 going into the second.

But the wild part isn’t that the Nuggets built a double-digit lead — it’s who they did it against.

Remember the Warriors’ new “death lineup” everyone has been talking about? The Nuggets were absolutely cooking against it on Wednesday.

The lineup of Jordan Poole, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins had a +34.4 net rating going into their closeout game against the Nuggets, per NBA.com’s stats tool. In Game 5 their net rating together was -37.5 in 7 total minutes played together.

Now, there are lots of caveats here. This is very obviously a super small sample pulled from a super small sample. They’ve only played five games together in the postseason so far and a seven-minute span within five games isn’t something we should make a big deal out of.

But at the same time, there were identifiable weaknesses in this lineup that opponents will surely pick apart in this lineup.

The biggest issue was its size — or a lack thereof. That was an issue that bore itself out through rebounding. The Nuggets won on the glass 50-37 which is a solid margin, but it only tells half the story. They also had 14 offensive rebounds in total, which is a huge number.

When you dig even deeper you see the Nuggets held the Warriors to a defensive rebounding rate of 50% when their “death lineup” was on the court. That means during those 7 minutes the Warriors only rebounded 50% of those Nuggets misses on defense. League average defensive rebounding rate for the regular season was 76.8%.

Basically, the Warriors were dreadful at finishing off defensive possessions in Game 5. The Nuggets’ size was just too much. Charles Barkley put it perfectly when talking about how Aaron Gordon was the Nuggets’ key to victory.

“They put them 4 lil dudes out there. He is bigger than everybody else…[The Warriors] are great on one end of the floor but they can’t rebound the ball and they’ve got no size.” 

Barkley was exactly right. It’s how Aaron Gordon got five offensive rebounds in the game. That lack of size also led to easy offensive boards like this one for Nikola Jokic.

That’s the exact thing the Warriors’ death lineup has no defense against. They’re just too small to rebound and closeout possessions. They can score like nobody’s business and they might get the initial stop. But if you’re a big enough team, you’ll be able to take advantage of that.

The Warriors figured that out and countered it with their original starting lineup to give them a bit of size with Kevon Looney. That move won them the game.

So now, moving forward, Golden State is faced with a big question. Steph Curry is starting again. But does that mean you have to feature this new lineup? Or do you go back to what works and keep your death lineup as a curveball teams have to be ready for?

I’m not quite sure what the answer is. But the Warriors should probably figure that out before they figure out who they’re playing next.

Watch our sneaker unboxing series, Special Delivery

[listicle id=1883426]

3 NBA players who need to crank things up a few notches on Thursday night

It’s not too late for these three players to turn it around.

Everything in the NBA playoffs is magnified. A big missed free throw here and a blown coverage there can make all the difference in the outcome of a series.

And like those handfuls of plays that swing the pendulum one way or the other, a viewer can often directly pinpoint which players are impacting wins and losses. It could be as simple as the star player either taking the game over or underwhelming. And other times it’s the role players who either rise to the occasion or don’t.

Such is the case for tonight’s three-game NBA slate. Let’s highlight a few guys who have not been good enough but could help their teams get back on track with big games Thursday.

Houston Rockets report card: Player grades from Saturday’s loss at Nuggets

Houston led by 5 points late, but Denver’s Aaron Gordon hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes to win the game by a point.

For a third consecutive game, the young Houston Rockets led well into the second half, on the road against a perceived Western Conference contender. But for a third straight time, they couldn’t close it out, and they’re now 1-8 on the season with seven consecutive losses.

After taking a 94-89 lead into the final two minutes, Aaron Gordon connected on back-to-back 3-pointers as the host Denver Nuggets (5-4) rallied to Saturday’s 95-94 victory (box score). Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic collected a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds.

Daniel Theis (18 points, 66.7% FG) led the Rockets in scoring and hit a big 3-pointer to put his team up by 5 points with 2:46 left. Unfortunately, that was the last point that Houston would score. Jae’Sean Tate had his last-second attempt at a potential winning shot blocked by Jokic.

“We needed this,” Theis said in a deflated postgame interview. “We worked so hard, and we still end up losing.”

See below for highlights from Saturday’s game, and read on for our assessment of individual Houston performances. Grades are limited to players who had clear rotation minutes, since anything less wouldn’t represent a sufficient enough sample to evaluate. Grades are also decided relative to a player’s average performance — in other words, the standard for Christian Wood is higher than for David Nwaba.

[lawrence-related id=56416,56353]

Aaron Gordon hilariously trolled Dwyane Wade when asked about why he’s wearing No. 50 with Nuggets

HILARIOUS

Fun fact about Aaron Gordon, y’all. He’s got the most 50 scores in NBA Dunk Contest history. Despite that fact, he has never actually won one.

Part of that is Dwyane Wade’s fault. He wrongly gave Gordon a 9 in the dunk contest last year and essentially robbed him of a win. It was a pretty wild sequence of events.

But that fun fact is why he wears No. 50 now in Denver — because he’s got the most dunk contest 50’s ever with no win.

So, of course, it was hilarious when he explained that to Dwyane Wade himself.

“I mean, it spoke to me man. You know I got the most 50’s ever in the dunk contest. It’s a good number for me. I feel like it’s strong, it’s powerful. It just spoke to me, man. I really…I’m rocking with it.” 

EL. OH. EL. That’s hilarious, man. Dwyane Wade knew what he was doing. Shaq trolled Wade after he asked Gordon his question.

Hilarious. Dwyane Wade has to retroactively give Gordon a 10 now. Those are the rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB1zpeaqoQE

Former Spartan Gary Harris traded to Orlando Magic in trade deadline move

Former Spartan Gary Harris is on the move to Orlando in part of a trade deadline deal with Denver for Aaron Gordon.

[mm-video type=video id=01f1dx6xsdvrsd64e8 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f1dx6xsdvrsd64e8/01f1dx6xsdvrsd64e8-82517668e502125ecb80428b67ff86b8.jpg]

The NBA trade deadline is here and there has been absolute chaos all day as players find new teams in one of the most exciting days of the season. One of those players who is on the move is former Spartan Gary Harris, who will be heading to the Orlando Magic.

Harris will now play in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast division, along with fellow Spartan Miles Bridges who is on the Charlotte Hornets.

Harris was traded in a deal that moved Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets.

 

[vertical-gallery id=36743]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Cole Anthony reacts to Magic trading Vucevic, Gordon, Fournier

Anthony reacted to the flurry of moves the Magic made on Thursday ahead of the trade deadline.

[mm-video type=video id=01f1n86xkxk78dq17v playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f1n86xkxk78dq17v/01f1n86xkxk78dq17v-4f933a6d48d2979f57e0488093498742.jpg]

On Thursday, the Orlando Magic emerged as the busiest team in the NBA ahead of the trade deadline, reportedly sending several veteran players packing, including All-Star Nikola Vucevic.

The Magic first traded Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two first-round picks. Chicago is sending a top-four protected this year and another lightly-protected pick in 2023.

Then, the Magic sent veteran Evan Fournier to the Boston Celtics for two second-round picks.

To complete the flurry of moves, Orlando traded Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark to the Denver Nuggets for Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and a first-round pick. The trade of Gordon came after the seventh-year forward requested out of Orlando.

The trades come amid a season in which the Magic have posted a 15-29 record, the fourth-worst mark in the NBA. The team has dealt with several injuries to key players, including Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, that washed away a promising 6-2 start.

After plummeting to the bottom of the standings, the Magic are planning to build toward the future. While the trades may not have come as a surprise, the moves still left quite an impression on the players who remain on the roster, including rookie Cole Anthony.

Vucevic, Fournier and Gordon were the longest-tenured players on the Magic roster prior to Thursday, but that honor now goes to Terrence Ross, who had perhaps the tweet of the day following the trades executed by Orlando.

Now that the Magic have made their plans known, the team will build around a core of Isaac, Fultz, Anthony, Hampton and Chuma Okeke. The group will also hope to hit on some upcoming draft picks as they will have two first-rounders this year after their deadline dealings.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

[lawrence-related id=29912,29903,29823]

[listicle id=29871]

NBA trade deadline: Projected rotation for Nuggets with Aaron Gordon

After earning a spot in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets made a huge splash during the 2021 NBA trade deadline.

After earning a spot in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets made a huge splash during the 2021 NBA trade deadline.

Hungry to build on the success they had last season, Denver’s front office made a push to land Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic as well as two-time NBA champion JaVale McGee from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They also acquired Gary Clark, a sneaky good role player, to the mix.

While the organization surrendered longtime starter Gary Harris as well as promising prospect RJ Hampton in the deal, they maintained much of the depth necessary to make another run in the postseason later this year.

Denver came into the season with some excellent star power behind MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and a stellar guard in Jamal Murray. They maintain excellent upside with the firepower of Michael Porter Jr. as well.

With all three on the floor, the Nuggets have outscored opponents by 13.1 points per 100 possessions this year. That ranks as the second-best among three-man groups in the Western Conference that have played at least 600 minutes together thus far in 2020-21.

But they also have Will Barton, Paul Millsap and Monte Morris – all of whom are reliable veterans who play well within their roles. So when you add Gordon and McGee to that already strong core, you suddenly have one of the deepest rosters in the NBA.

As such, below, we have broken down the new group for the Nuggets as they prepare to make a playoff push.

The league is moving more and more towards positionless basketball. Note that we define “guards” as the playmakers and primary initiators, “wings” as the versatile athletes who can typically play somewhere between two through four and “bigs” as the main frontcourt threat.

Aaron Gordon trade grades: Who won the trade between the Nuggets and Magic?

The Magic are tearing it down.

The Magic looked a whole lot different than they do now just a few hours ago. This is a completely different team.

First, they ship Nikola Vucevic off. Next, they send Evan Fournier off. Now? Aaron Gordon is gone, too. He’s been traded to the Denver Nuggets, according to reporting from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Terrence Ross really is the captain of the Magic now.

This had been a long time coming for Orlando. They weren’t set to compete this year. They’re on the cusp of getting a top-3 pick in the draft. This is them leaning in and tearing things completely down.

The Nuggets get the defensive presence at power forward that they’ve been missing in Jerami Grant’s absence. They now have the versatile defender they’ve been looking for.

Let’s get in some grades.