Orlando Magic 2016-17 Season Outlook: Returning To The Playoffs
The Wings
On the wing, the Orlando Magic have two high upside players in Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja, and they also signed an inexplicable one in Jeff Green, who apparently signed a contract with the basketball devil that forces him to pay for every good game with at least three weeks of unexplainable disappearances.
Anyway, Gordon and Hezonja should have Magic fans very excited. Both are approximately 6-foot-9 athletic freaks who have potential to be competent playmakers, shooters, and defenders. Gordon is blessed with the combination of having elite athleticism, spider long arms, and insane versatility potential, both offensively and defensively.
As a playmaker he has already flashed ball handling ability. While anything having to do with the summer league should be taken with salt, Gordon did dominate in a slightly Paul George-ian way for the short time he was there
He could feasibly guard three or even four positions with his height and length, and offensively he looks a bit like prime Shawn Marion with a slightly less hilarious looking jumpshot: he may one day be able to proficiently function as a gap filler for anywhere needed on offense and defense for positions 1-4, while also having takeover potential. New coach Frank Vogel notably compared Gordon to Paul George for a reason.
While many analysts have voiced concern that Gordon may be better suited to play as a playmaking 4 rather than as a 3, he probably has the requisite athletic and physical tools to play the 3 competently eventually. As a playmaker he has already flashed ball handling ability. While anything having to do with the summer league should be taken with salt, Gordon did dominate in a slightly Paul George-ian way for the short time he was there.
Maybe Vogel is right to be optimistic. It’s difficult to say exactly how productive Gordon will be this season, but at the very least his development will be quite exciting to watch.
Speaking of exciting, Mario Hezonja essentially looks like the prototype of what teams would want out of an ideal scoring wing in today’s NBA. He doesn’t appear to possess the defensive versatility or outright athletic scariness quite to the level Gordon does (although that is simply due to the differing nature of their body types: Hezonja has a more conventional body type than Gordon’s slightly alien-esque build), but Hezonja is an elite athlete himself, and he projects to be no slouch as a defender and like Gordon can fly with ease.
He has long been the subject of scouts’ drooling due to his shown the potential to be the entire package offensively as a wing who could function either as a complementary option, or (probably farther down the line) as a featured scorer. Hezonja is known for his legendary confidence which borders on arrogance, but it is at least somewhat warranted. If he develops as he should, his walk may just one day match his enormous talk: a high goal maybe, but it is a realistic one.