Aaron Gordon looks like Shawn Marion on the Nuggets

[cupcakesnake]

I love how most of y'all doubted Gordon. He's the perfect frontcourt sidekick to Joker. Can legitimately defend 1-5, can catch lobs, can knock 3 pointers and he's durable as hell. Easily the best move they've made since the Joker era. He never made the all-star but his impact is definitely on Marion's level.

I felt during last playoff run that Gordon was a little under-utilized, but it's hard to complain about much when you're winning a championship. It is nice to see a series where the Nuggets have to funnel more usage to Gordon and he's able to respond with 17-5-5 while brining his typical leather of physical terror to the game.

Yes Gordon is a strong defender and finisher, but he also has some really solid ball handling and playmaking chops. At their best the Nuggets are Jamal/Joker-ccentric but it's cool to see when an opponent overplays that like Minnesota did, they can throw it to Gordon and reconfigure their offensive attack.

A couple more years of this and AG is going to be one of those 0-time all-stars who's consistently one of the best players in the world come playoffs (like Lamar Odom and Boris Diaw before him).

[dhsilv2]

Much better all around player. I think he may get them into the finals.

BTW, remember how Marion was amazing....until he no longer had Steve Nash? His hops were amazing...but overall overrated (see DeAndre Jordan)

Marion was a 20-10 guy (almost) while getting DPOY votes and made the allstar team in 2003 before Nash got there...obviously he benefited from Nash...but the guy had already established himself before that.

[chuck_wagon44]

Ummmm, a significantly better version

[SweetTouch]

hes in the perfect position, 3rd option - defense doesnt have time to be able to defend him so they leave him wide open

[durden_tyler]

He is a great complement to Jokic. Landed with the perfect player to bring out the best in him. But he'd look more ordinary on other teams. A lot of what he does is just cutting to the hoop when there's openings created by Jokic. And of course he always finds him.

Which means he knows his limitations and just plays well within a system and a GOAT quality teammate. Some superstars can’t do that, either they just don’t know how or just too selfish. Would rather have the “role player” Gordon than most of these stars.

[Rainwater]

Nah he's Blake griffin with a MVP teammate and great coach

Blake Griffin was an all star and second option AG is a glue guy.

[QPR]

He's a really underrated passer and ball-handler too. Just plays so many different roles for Denver depending what they need on any given night. He was a touted high pick but he's basically ego-less on the court.

Murray gets a lot of the non-Jokic plaudits but they don't win last year without Gordon either.

[tsherkin]

Gordon has been fitting in very well on this team. It's basically his ideal context, and he's gone all-in on his role. It's kind of awesome. He's been very important to Denver's success.

[garrick]

Marion was much better overall but yes as a glue guy on the Mavs 2011 championship run he was a lot like Gordon in that he was a very key piece on that team.

I wanted the Suns to get Aaron Gordon back in the day and was disappointed that the asshat GM James Jones did nothing to try to add bigger bodies to our team. Championship teams always need an elite role player or two and AG fits that role perfectly for the Nuggets.

I didn't realize he's been the GM since 2018.

Yeah and he's done a really subpar job after the first couple years which makes me think he mailed it in since then and is only interested in his cushy job.

His philosophy is that he hates raw rookies which is why he choose older rookies like Bridges and Cam Johnson and instead of drafting unknowns he prefers to stock the end of the bench with 2 way players.

He also to a fault loves 3 & D players if you look at the free agents and rookies he's signed since he's been here, he avoids drafting or signing decent point guards after he signed Cam Payne and CP3 and he hates tall athletic big men.

[Jadoogar]

Who's the next Aaron Gordon (aka player miscast as a #1 that would excel in the role player role on contender)?
Mikal Bridges is an obvious candidate. Raptors' fans are going to kill me but maybe Scottie Barnes down the road?

[NZB2323]

Much better all around player. I think he may get them into the finals.

BTW, remember how Marion was amazing....until he no longer had Steve Nash? His hops were amazing...but overall overrated (see DeAndre Jordan)

Nash made both STAT and the Matrix. With that said, they both had amazing talent, Nash just knew how to make them shine to their max potential. for a 2x MVP, Nash is so underrated.

Marion was an all-star before Nash and Amare was ROY before Nash. After Nash Amare was a MVP candidate with the Knicks and Marion won a championship with the Mavs.

[LaLover11]

Nah he's Blake griffin with a MVP teammate and great coach

Blake Griffin was an all star and second option AG is a glue guy.

Would've loved to see Prime Blake with Kyrie and LeBron in Cleavland

[Sign5]

A mix between Griffin and Marion is a nice description for Gordon. Saying that, It makes perfect sense why Nuggets are so consistently dominant when they have a top 10 ATG/MVP in Jokic, playoff Murray and another elite caliber do it all player in Gordon. Who also doesn't dominate the ball. About the perfect 3rd option almost any team could ever ask for imo.

[Clav]

Who's the next Aaron Gordon (aka player miscast as a #1 that would excel in the role player role on contender)?
Mikal Bridges is an obvious candidate. Raptors' fans are going to kill me but maybe Scottie Barnes down the road?

I can see Jalen Duren if he improve his shooting and all court defense too.

One part of AG's game that is really essential is his ability to occupy the dunker's spot and always be a threat to impact the game with high% buckets. Duren has all of that ready to go, the question for me is if he can be more than a strong side C or weakside shot blocker, I can see it in the future. AG was not known for his shooting early in this career either, but he consistently swishes big shots from around the court today.

I do like Barnes as your suggestion, no disrespect to him at all, having AG's production and role is necessary for a championship team and Barnes can be that do-everything forward too. That's a very valuable player for sure.

[Myth]

Much better all around player. I think he may get them into the finals.

BTW, remember how Marion was amazing....until he no longer had Steve Nash? His hops were amazing...but overall overrated (see DeAndre Jordan)

Nash made both STAT and the Matrix. With that said, they both had amazing talent, Nash just knew how to make them shine to their max potential. for a 2x MVP, Nash is so underrated.

They were better with Nash, but I wouldn’t say he made them. Those years likely are their peak ages regardless of Nash based on their ages, and showed success before and after Nash during non-peak ages. Marion was essentially a 20ppg 10rpg all-star getting DPOY votes before Nash, and then in his 30s he was still instrumental to the Mavs championship. Amare was ROY over Yao and a near 20/10 guy as a sophomore before Nash, then a 25/8 all-nba player with the Knicks for a season before injuries derailed his career.

[Rainwater]

Much better all around player. I think he may get them into the finals.

BTW, remember how Marion was amazing....until he no longer had Steve Nash? His hops were amazing...but overall overrated (see DeAndre Jordan)

Nash made both STAT and the Matrix. With that said, they both had amazing talent, Nash just knew how to make them shine to their max potential. for a 2x MVP, Nash is so underrated.

Marion was an all-star before Nash and Amare was ROY before Nash. After Nash Amare was a MVP candidate with the Knicks and Marion won a championship with the Mavs.

Nash definitely did not make Marion or Stat lol

[Rainwater]

I don’t think people realize how good Marion was