6. Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets)
In the playoffs, Aaron Gordon is averaging 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He’s doing that on 49% shooting from the field and 35.1% shooting from 3-point range. Gordon came up clutch in his most recent game (Denver’s Game 4 closeout win over the Lakers, which seems an eternity ago at this point) with arguably his best performance of the playoffs so far. He went for 22 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 9-of-14 shooting and also hit three 3’s.
In the regular season, Gordon averaged 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists as Denver’s starting Power Forward. He also had the most efficient season of his career, shooting 56.4% from the field and 34.7% from deep.
Gordon is also a key defender for Denver, often drawing the other team’s No. 1 option. Gordon will presumably draw the Jimmy Butler assignment in this series.
5. Michael Porter Jr. (Denver Nuggets)
There aren’t many better 3rd options on the offensive end than MPJ.
So far in the playoffs, Porter Jr. is averaging 14.6 points and eight rebounds per game. He’s doing so with shooting splits of 45.5%/40.8%/81%. MPJ has the ability to get hot from deep and has a major impact on the game in that way. In fact, through Denver’s 15 playoff games so far, Porter Jr. has hit 4 or more 3’s on six different occasions. In the regular season, he hit that mark 24 times out of 62 appearances.
Speaking of the regular season, Porter averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game on 48.7% shooting (and 41.4% shooting from deep) on the year.