Aaron Gordon Enters The Matrix
How landing an ideal role as a slashing play-finishing defensive ace took Air Gordon from Dunk Contest People's Champ to NBA Champion
"I can only show you the door,
you're the one that has to walk through it.”
The mile-high milky way galaxy revolves around the gravitational pull of its biggest and brightest star, where never-ending off-ball movement rotates in sync around the heliocentric scoring creation of Denver’s basketball supernova, Nikola Jokic.
We are all witnesses to a one-man offensive hub the likes of which we haven’t seen.
Nine summers ago, a prospect fell to the second round in the NBA draft, outlasted and overtook a proven starter, yet leaves the league dumbfounded to this day due to his combination of elite footwork, masterful vision, and otherworldly shooting touch.
The Joker can pull off any trick with the rock in his hands.
Nikola's feathery touch is as pristine as his passing feel, able to create shots for himself and others from every spot on the floor.
Like touting Steph as the best shooter ever, calling Jokic the best passing big of all time almost cuts the legend short, the highest of backhanded compliments when compared to the primary scoring creator gravity each player creates every possession.
Posting up for one-legged turnaround fades, spinning middies, and soft touch shooter’s bounce jumpers from everywhere on the floor like a modern day Dirk Nowitzki, Nikola Jokic drills impossible high-arcing shots off the dribble, the rare seven-foot primary scoring option who pulls up for stepback fadeaway jumpers.
This point-center pushes the pace off turnovers while executing halfcourt offense to perfection, initiating endless half court handoffs and inverted pick and rolls like a big bumbling 6’11” 284lb Steve Nash running the break, evaluating what the defense gives them, using ungodly feel to create the best shot for the team whether that be dishing to others or putting the ball in the net himself.
https://twitter.com/beyondtheRK/status/1665121116854050818?s=20
https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1659367939043147777?s=20
“Sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”
On a team famously looking to score in seven seconds or less, Steve Nash commanded a high-volume pick-and-roll system paired with play-finishers and floor-spacing in every direction, from the rim-rocking Amar’e Stoudemire’s vertical leaping thunderous slams, a young bucket-getting Joe Johnson, and a slashing defensive playmaker by the name of Shawn Marion.
Nash’s Suns ran up the highest-rated offense to date moving at a high-speed pace deemed outlier fast in the late 2000s that would feel slow coming off the most recent Warriors-Kings first round series here in 2023. Phoenix’s record-breaking 114 O-RTG in the year 2006-07 would rate smack-dab in the middle of the league today.
Like Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s, Dantoni’s trend-setting offenses took advantage of scoring opportunities that others weren’t valuing at the time: playing a grab-and-go style to create as many chances to score as possible while relying on endless pick-and-rolls as a reliable source of consistent halfcourt shot creation, with good shots matching up with what the analytics say are the most valuable today: dunks and soft touch finishes at the rim, drawing fouls on the way there, and kickouts for open threes.
Baseline-walking to back-to-back MVPs, Nash impressed voters in a similar vein as Jokic, improving upon MVP production. Posting better numbers the year after winning your first Most Valuable Player feels impossible not to reward for voters.
The first names mentioned in Dirk’s legendary title run tend to be Jason Terry and JJ Barea, a lethal-shooting inverted pick-and-pop attack not too dissimmilar from the Jokic-Jamal two-man game, where anyone can pull-up from anywhere at any moment.
While that Dallas team caught fire for a scorching hot playoff run, Dirk’s Mavs would never have made it through Kobe’s aging Lakers, Durant’s young Thunder, and LeBron’s first-year Heatles without the defensive fortitude and high-feel depth of play-finishers and secondary playmakers like veteran starters Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, and Tyson Chandler.
After winning a title that season in Dallas, Tyson would win Defensive Player of the Year the following season next to Carmelo in New York.
Tyson Chandler on the pieces that made up the championship team in Dallas, via the Knuckleheads Podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles:
“It was honestly a magical year of guys that had gone through things and landed at the perfect spot at the perfect time…
It was the perfect storm of players coming together that just really wanted to win… It was going to a team, they were already a well-oiled machine, I just gotta come in and do my thing.
The run that Dirk had, watching it was unbelievable. I have never seen basketball played at that level. Anytime we needed a bucket, he got a bucket. He hit every big shot. He carried us…
We just gotta get him there. We just gotta get him there.
He gonna get us a ring; we gotta get him there.”
“That Jokic & Murray Pick & Roll remind me of the way Dirk & Jet ran it… Dirk would handle & Jet would set the up pick final few mins of games” - Tyson Chandler, Twitter
Other than the MVP superstar shot-creators, what’s one common theme between Nash’s Suns and Dirk’s Mavs?
Shawn Marion
One of the most versatile, explosive, powerful big wing star-stoppers in the history of the sport who spent every game finishing plays while locking down the opposing team’s best perimeter player, with the ability to guard just about any position.
The Matrix
This defensive playmaker doubled as a high-flying athlete who thrived in a slashing play-finishing role and secondary post-up creator, moreso than full-time main option.
Being good at nearly every aspect of the game creates a sum-of-its-parts affect for good basketball players that can be fully unlocked when playing next to a basketball savant scoring creator, on teams where making good decisions becomes easy when you threaten defenses from every direction at once.
Even with a funky outside shot, looking for the best shot for the team came natural.
"What you know you can't explain, but you feel it.
You've felt it your entire life."
Aaron Gordon is starring in his role like a modern day Shawn Marion, The Matrix to Jokic’s dynamic scoring creator mix of Nash and Nowitzki.
Three years ago, I wrote this on the perfect role to unlock Aaron Gordon’s skill-set:
“Ideally, Aaron would develop into a modern version of Shawn Marion; a do-it-all, oversized wing who can shut down multiple positions, score and create as a secondary playmaker, while dominating the off-ball roles of finishing, catch-and-shooting, and rim-rolling.
With his versatility as a defender and variety of weapons on offense, Aaron Gordon is Orlando’s Swish-Army Knife.”
Today’s era has players resting more, playing less, aiming to preserve long-term health and availability. Gordon averages 30-35 MPG; Marion averaged closer to 40+ MPG.
Comparing Per-100 Possession Player Stats for Age 27 Regular Seasons:
2023 Aaron Gordon
26.4 PTS — 10.6 REB — 4.8 AST / 2.3 TO — 2.5 STL+BLK
56% FG% on 18 FGA / 35% 3P% on 4 3PA / 63% 2P% on 14 2PA / 61% FT% on 8 FTA
2007 Shawn Marion
27.2 PTS — 14.7 REB — 2.2 AST / 1.9 TOV — 4.5 STL+BLK
53% FG% on 21 FGA / 33% 3P% on 5 3PA / 58% 2P% on 17 2PA / 81% FT% on 5 FTA
Darko Career DPM
Gordon’s (blue) line below measuring his Career DPM by game is beginning to trend higher than Shawn Marion, Blake Griffin, and Josh Smith at this point in their careers, rising closer towards the late-career leap in impact that Lamar Odom saw flanking Kobe Bryant as a secondary playmaker in a loaded frontcourt on the way to three straight Finals appearances and two NBA titles.
"To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human."
Dunking aside, Aaron was hardly the smoothest scorer in his draft class. In what many considered a deep lottery full of talent with three potential stars at the top, Gordon was projected to go as high as 4, yet even that outcome was uncertain.
Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, and Joel Embiid were the stars shining brightest that year, while Nikola Jokic was the diamond left in the rough, as ESPN famously aired a taco bell commercial at the very moment the Nuggets selected the future Finals MVP.
As a prospect, Gordon represented the ying to Wiggins’ yang, even better represented by their late-career success after landing in the right role at the right time.
Aaron brought grit, toughness, intensity; Andrew flashed a diverse shot profile, a clean jump shot, and tough shot-making skills. Now big wing defenders who score effectively off open cuts and one-on-one mismatches, Gordon brings stronger, more versatile defense as Wiggins counters with smoother, more versatile scoring.
One can argue Gordon being the defensive anchor of a champion and one of its secondary creators and play-finishers had even more impact than Wiggins filling a role of sound scoring and plus-defense from the wing, where Aaron brought a higher level of impact to winning between his versatile star-stopping defense, efficient vertical gravity play-finishing, and team-first shot-creation out of postup mismatches.
2023 Estimated Plus Minus Impact via Dunks and Threes:
+4.4 EPM Aaron Gordon (+2.5 Off, +1.9 Def) [tied with Booker and Garland]
+1.5 EPM Andrew Wiggins (+0.6 Off, +0.9 Def) [tied with Wendell]
An excerpt from Ricky O’Donnell’s Aaron Gordon piece with SB Nation on Gordon’s national reputation among college prospects entering the 2014 NBA Draft:
Gordon’s Arizona team had five NBA players in the rotation. They started the season 21-0, won the Pac-12 regular season title, and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament (before being upset in the Elite Eight.)
Now in the best possible place, next to the best possible star, Gordon is growing into the two-way wrecking ball he was always destined to be on the sport’s biggest stage.
The scouting reports on Gordon entering the NBA Draft painted him as he was: an athletic specimen who needed to improve his skill level and figure out his role.
He dunked everything inside (54 dunks in his freshman season), but didn’t have the handle to consistently create his own shot. His jump shot was a huge question mark despite hitting a solid 35.6 percent from deep, because he barely attempted over one triple per game and only hit 44 percent of his free throws.
Gordon’s potential was sky-high defensively, but he was still figuring out his technique on the perimeter and his discipline inside.
- Ricky O'Donnell, SB Nation
Selected fourth overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2014 NBA Draft, Aaron Gordon started his career on a carousel of rotating coaches, roles, everything; the plates never stopped spinning.
Playing for five coaches in five seasons with different goals, lineups, and fits with each one didn’t help anyone; the players didn’t develop, the team didn’t win games.
The Swish Army Knife’s versatile defense became underrated and overlooked, while his offensive playmaking and off-ball slashing play-finishing talent went underutilized.
In 2020, Gordon rated above the 80th percentile in a plethora of playtypes, from Finishing, Defensive Rebounding, Playmaking, Roll Gravity, Post Play, to Off-Ball Movement, via The BBall Index:
95.5% (A) Finishing
94.8% (A) D-Rebounding
89.6% (A-) Playmaking
86.3% (A-) Roll Gravity
82.2% (A-) Post Play
81.3% (A-) Off-Ball Movement
The most recent successful Magic playoff teams beat bad teams on the aggregate by grinding through possessions: Coach Clifford’s four-factor focused goals were built around safe decision-making and slowing the pace, surviving limited movement on and off the ball on the life-support of three plays: posting up Vucevic, Fournier-Vucevic passing to each other in P&R/DHO, and T-Ross stagger screens.
The Clifford-Vucevic offenses never climbed out of the bottom-10 in the league; Orlando hasn’t recorded a top-20 offense since Oladipo’s north-south force in 2016 when the Magic ranked 17th, and hasn’t posted a top-12 offense since Dwight in 2012.
How did those teams make the playoffs with such lackluster firepower?
Constructing an elite Top-12 defense built around the night-to-night big wing defensive versatility of Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon, covering up Vucevic’s lack of mobility with drop coverage.
"Remember... all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more"
One of the worst things that ever happened to Aaron Gordon in Orlando was expectations.
Expectations of a top-five pick trying to save a rebuilding team; expectations for the fourth pick in what analysts considered a three-star draft full of rotation players talents; expectations from the majority of basketball fans, who just want to see a top pick score points, a smooth bucket-getter who makes shooting a basketball look easy.
When expectations are “tough shot-making franchise savior or bust”, anything less is a disappointment.
Being one of the most versatile defenders, strong post-up playmakers, and elite play-finishers in the league isn’t enough for fans when that skill-set isn’t being maximized.
Not every player can be a franchise-saving superstar; in the draft, the next best thing is finding a good basketball player. Looking back, Gordon winding up the most versatile star-stopper of the field after all the supposed stars were selected ahead of him makes him one of the better picks of the draft.
The problem wasn’t that Gordon wouldn’t accept his role in Orlando, but rather the role Orlando asked Aaron to accept.
Take some scouting advice from Albert Einstein, “Don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.”
Gordon’s secondary playmaking and natural play-finishing skills suffered from a lack of spacing and creation on those Orlando rosters, miscast from the days of Magic brass asking him to score from a standstill on the perimeter like he’s Paul George, surrounding him with no spacing and a lumbering big man often clogging the paint.
Would you ask Shawn Marion to self-create every time down, to score pull-up fadeaways off the dribble, with no space to operate?
Or, knowing Shawn Marion’s capable of doing the dirty work while filling up the stat sheet with hustle plays, would you ask Marion to focus on a role finishing plays created by others, letting The Matrix do what he does best:
making life difficult for the other team’s best player no matter the position; crashing the boards with explosion; slashing to the rim on cuts; stretching the floor vertically as a lob threat and horizontally as a C&S 3pt shooter now overqualified to attack closeouts as a secondary playmaker?
When asking Gordon to create from scratch on the perimeter, with limited spacing and movement due to a clogged paint, things felt clunky; when he’s slicing up defenses from inside and out, hitting open C&S threes, throwing down rim-rolling dunker spot lob slams, and playmaking off post-up mismatches, Gordon transforms into the ultimate swish army knife on any given night.
“What was said was for you, and you alone.”
Strict veteran coaches fighting for 7th-seeds over prioritizing player development may have hurt Orlando’s prospects in the long term.
Orlando’s lack of spacing and on-ball opportunities hurt the team’s ability to capitalize on Victor Oladipo’s north-south quick burst to the rim, underutilizing his ready-made elite defense and developable decelerating body control. Coach Skiles praised that defense as all-league worthy, yet would take young players off the court like Mario Hezonja after good plays or bad plays, limiting opportunity to learn from mistakes with no defined role. Elfrid Payton racked up triple doubles in the spring as a playmaker with length and natural feel, but playing a point guard who didn’t stretch the floor on offense and couldn’t stop anyone off the dribble on defense didn’t help anyone win basketball games or develop longterm.
The two-man tunnel vision of Vooch and Fournier was promising enough for Orlando to trade Oladipo, their highest draft pick during the Dwightmare rebuild, two years before ‘Dipo became one of the only guards in NBA history to make an All-Defensive team and All-NBA team in the same season, for 56 games of Serge Ibaka.
While Vucevic provided a steady halfcourt hand good enough to stop a bottom-ten offensive ship from sinking, grinding through low-pace possessions with minimum turnover, the Magic never had a legitimate primary scoring creator who could make life easier for teammates, a real superstar a team can build an offense around who creates good looks for himself or his teammates every possession.
Building an offense around the play-finishing soft touch and sound decision-making of a post-up mismatch connector in Vucevic was seen as the safest bet, but that bet was against the development and opportunity of others, all while clogging the paint, limiting pace, and slowing any on or off ball movement for the rest of the offense.
By force-feeding every play through Vucevic, playing anyone else at the five was out of the question, trying any faster pace or off-ball movement playstyle that may be more complementary to every other Magic player’s skills became taboo.
A team that went all in on Ibaka somehow never played Gordon and Ibaka together as the 4/5 after trading their best prospect in decades for Serge. Orlando rarely played Gordon-Isaac as the 4/5 without another big on the floor, and never played their versatile young core four of Fultz, Gordon, Isaac, and Bamba on the court together for a single minute, via PBP stats.
Forget any opportunity for Bamba, taken 6th overall in the draft, to play with starting caliber shot-creators; instead Mo spent his rookie contract on the bench, left hunting for rebounds after tough T-Ross midrange pull-ups if Bamba wanted a chance to score.
Fast forward to starting for a team that made the Finals in Denver, Aaron Gordon’s proven the haters dead wrong.
Even without the smoothest-looking jumper, between the night-to-night availability on defense, off-ball slashing, post-up mismatch scoring, and secondary connector playmaking, Aaron Gordon was arguably the second-most reliable and impactful player on a title team from start to finish throughout the entire 2023 NBA season.
The difference between an inconsistent shooter setting up in a standstill beyond the arc knowing he’s not getting the ball if he cuts as eastern conference all-star Nikola Vucevic dribbles the clock out on the block and that same player becoming a more willing shooter who stays ever-moving off screening, slashing, and relocating around the back-to-back MVP in Nikola Jokic, a handoff extraordinaire team-first shot-creating superstar, looks to be worth about seven seeds in the standings; the difference between 7th-seed pretenders fighting for two home games of playoff revenue for the owners and 1st-seed contenders fighting for championships every year.
To Vucevic’s credit, he didn’t ask to be the Magic’s “best option”, he was just the most reliable shot-creator among an island of misfit toys during a gruelingly slow rebuild.
Since the team was going to not play modern high-pace spread pick-and-roll basketball, they decided the safest option was to play through Vooch’s sound decision-making on the block and elbow, a good post-up mismatch scorer with shooter’s touch out to the midrange who can put up twenty points a game and double digit rebounds, while eventually stretching his play-finishing soft touch out to the three-point line created a solid pick-and-pop play once Markelle Fultz entered the picture.
When it comes to building a sustainable playoff contender, though, its hard to win games when your big man, your last line of defense, doesn’t get stops individually or in help. Trading twenty point outings with Robin Lopez doesn’t win basketball games.
Being a passable post-up defender would be one thing, but turnstiles who can’t defend the post or protect the rim don’t work for anyone in the playoffs, especially bigs.
Being hesitant to attack the rim to draw fouls as the main option makes team scoring tougher in today’s game when those are the most efficient shot locations, yet your biggest, best player never looks to do either one.
These holes eventually could be attacked by drop-killing pull-up shooting floata-swishing switch-hunting stars over an full playoff series when the opponent exploits every weakness and elite defenses must respond with versatility, agility, swarming energy, and ever-changing looks in P&R coverage from traps, hard hedges, soft show, and switching schemes in-between.
One would have to be so otherworldly talented offensively, a true one-man offense, for the impact to make up for the difference on defense. When offensive-gifted stars like Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic don’t show otherworldly athleticism, yet find ways to be effective on defense, the standard is set for teammates and lead options everywhere.
"The body cannot live without the mind"
Gordon on how his relationship has evolved with Jokic:
“On the court, it was really good from day one.
We understand the game very well — He understands the game. Makes it really simple. Sees you all over the floor. Ushers you to make the right play, by like a nod of the head, or a look of the eyes.
He’s a maestro with the basketball.
He’s a savant.
And it’s amazing playing with somebody like that on the floor who understands the game.
And then, off the court, it’s really cool. He’s a guy that has a lot of depth, there’s a lot of depth to him. He has a very dry sense of humor, absolutely hysterical. So it’s been fun getting to know him, building that bond, and building that chemistry. It’s been great.”
“Ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or dreaming?”
On his journey from Orlando to the dunk contest to Denver finally all being healthy:
“It’s been a lot of work. Lotta work, lotta work, lotta work. Days and days and 2-a-days and 3-a-days and 4-a-days for years and year and years just so you can make maybe one big shot; or make one big play; or have one big game or one big series. It’s been a lot of work.
I’m just ecstatic to come to an organization that plays the right way and has a brand of basketball that’s just fun to play, fun to be around, and keeps energy in the ball. The journey’s not over. I’m gonna continue to work and yeah, just enjoying the moment.”
"Do you think that's air you're breathing now?"
While Red Bull gives you wiiings, Nikola Jokic makes teammates flyyy.
Air Gordon finally landed an ideal role that maximizes his play-finishing skill-set, a big wing defensive ace and slashing secondary playmaker who takes advantage of easy scoring opportunities created off Jokic’s supernova feel.
Gordon suffocates the opposing team’s best perimeter player on defense while staying moving off the ball on offense for telepathically timed cuts, slipped screens, and high-flying highlight slams.
An energizer bunny with a never-ending battery who screens, slips, and moves constantly, Gordon’s strong hands help him catch open looks, usually gathering with a single power dribble after the catch before loading up and launching for slams.
Bouncing up for second chance putbacks, dunker spot jams, and alley-oop lobs, Air Gordon’s explosiveness has always been electric.
In addition to breakaway tomahawk dunks and windmill slams, The Dunk Contest People’s Champ may legitimately be the best in the world at one specific skill; Aaron Gordon has the quickest second jump in the NBA, other than maybe a healthy Zion.
After securing or tipping the first board, Aaron beats everyone else to the ball or the rim on the second jump, reloading and launching before the defense has time to land.
https://twitter.com/beyondtheRK/status/1236804005579325441?s=20
Coming into the calendar year, Gordon ranked among the best in Dunks & Putbacks, showcasing his rim-rolling jams, vertical lob gravity, and bouncy second efforts.
2022-23 NBA Leaders in Dunks & Putbacks as of 12/29/22
A match made in hoops heaven, Aaron Gordon’s never had the opportunity to play with a superstar shot-creator like Nikola Jokic; and for what it’s worth, Jokic has never teamed up with a dynamic play-finisher quite like Air Gordon.
Aaron has reliable hands and floating hops, helping him catch every bullet pass tossed his way from Jokic or Jamal Murray, no matter how fast and strong it’s whipped across the court.
On his podcast, Draymond Green compares AG’s hands to Larry Fitzgerald’s, who’s running routes on the football field with gloves so sticky that he hasn’t dropped a pass since 2018, making 143 catches in a row without a drop, totaling 29 drops compared to 1432 catches through 17 seasons. Draymond could not be more confident in Gordon catching and finishing; if AG lands his hands on the pass, he’s not dropping the rock.
With soft finishing touch on alley-layups and hard rim-rocking power slams, attacking closeouts against mismatches, Gordon looks to finish every chance he gets.
If Jokic operates offense like a mix of Nash and Dirk, then appreciating the Amares, Tysons, Gortats, Marions and Gordons rim-rolling through the paint is easy.
"I like to play with him, I love to play with some dominant big men, if that makes sense,” Jokic says on playing with Gordon, “the best thing he did is really accepting his role, and he's doing a great job of that."
Jokic assisting Gordon makes up one of the most natural fits in the league, with the duo ranking 2nd in the NBA in assist combos (155) behind only Harden-Embiid. (244)
Rather than restricting Gordon to on-ball perimeter creation of standstill wing duties, Denver’s primary role for Aaron is much more clearly defined:
Slow down the other team’s best perimeter player as a switchable anchor
Explosive vertical leaper for rebounds, rim-rolls, and dunkers spot lobs
Finish the open looks created off Jokic’s and Jamal’s decision-making
Cut, Roll, Relocate; look alive, head up, hands ready
With his secondary roles made clear:
Energy, strength, force as grab-and-go drive-and-kick north south fast break force
Attack any and all mismatches in the post or closeouts on the wing by driving at the rim, drawing contact, hunting the foul and postup fadeaways.
Secondary Playmaker on Post-Ups/Drives for paint and spray kickouts, team-first decision-making connector, initiate actions from wing as shooters run off screens
Gordon feasts in post-up and short-roll playmaking as a secondary option attacking mismatches with strength on the block and connector feel on the move.
https://twitter.com/beyondtheRK/status/1229074690146258946?s=20
“Never send a human to do a machine’s job”
Elite, malleable defenders who are average or better at every playtype on offense are extremely rare to find in the NBA, bringing the exact two-way versatility one would want to flank around the nuclear firepower shot-creating hub of Jokic and Jamal.
The modern power foward is generally asked to be a lineup chamelion, able to shift roles seemlessly based on what’s needed to balance thee talent around him.
Aaron’s scoring versatility is best represented through his Synergy playtypes.
In the regular season, Gordon scored 0.9 PPP or better in nearly every playtype, other than operating P&R ball-handler, where he sits as a league-average rate of 0.84 PPP.
Sky-high off-ball efficiency is shown on 275 Cuts at 1.5 PPP ranking in the 86th percentile, 228 Transition plays at 1.2 PPP, and 132 Putbacks at 1.2 PPP for Aaron.
Gordon’s 1.4 PPP as P&R Roll-Man reveals his rim-roll play-finishing scoring impact, while his 0.9 ISO PPP on 82 Poss and 1.0 Post-Up PPP on 144 Poss shows an effective one-on-one secondary scoring option against mismatches.
Gordon being efficient at multiple playtypes creates a versatile scorer where the sum of his skills are maximized as a play-finisher, mismatch-hunter, secondary playmaker.
In the playoffs, Gordon’s scoring effectively from the field (52% on 10 FGA); efficiently from beyond the arc (39% on 2 3PA); and electrically in restricted area. (66% on 5 FGA)
Flying around off the ball, scoring 1.14 PPP in Transition, 1.17 PPP on Cuts, and 0.97 PPP on Putbacks, Aaron’s scoring versatility remains highly ranked in the playoffs:
2nd in Post-Ups with 1.48 PPP
10th in P&R Roll-Man with 1.13 PPP
20th on Spots Ups with 1.35 PPP.
That’s a staggering jump in Spot Ups, his least efficient playtype by the numbers, improving by 0.45 PPP from the regular season (0.90 PPP) to post-season. (1.35 PPP)
Impact ratings is one measure to reveal how well a player impacts winning in his role generally based on plus minus metrics; measuring the point differential for a team when a player is on or off the floor. The point of these ratings is not to rank players as much as gauge how much they affect winning when on the floor; how much did their team outscore the oppoenent with that player on the floor, while each metric differs in the nitty gritty of which factors to prioritize.
Aaron Gordon’s +4.4 EPM in the regular season is tied for 24th overall with Devin Booker and Darius Garland, just behind Paul George at +4.7 and Jrue Holiday, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Lauri Markannen at +4.9; while just ahead of Ja Morant’s 4.1 for comparison of players in his range of overall impact, via Dunks and Threes.
The most impactful defender on the team that ran away with the rest of the league all year long, Aaron Gordon has turned into one of the most vital, versatile defenders in the league.
Using strength, agility, awareness, Gordon’s developed into one of the truly positionless defenders, an energetic big wing defensive ace who switches between Chris Paul and Mike Conley to Anthony Davis and Deandre Ayton on any given night.
In this playoff run alone, The Swish Army Knife has taken on guarding a star-studded gauntlet at every position from Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns in round one, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in round two, LeBron James and Anthony Davis in round three, to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in round four, all while energetically embracing his ever-moving off-ball secondary playmaking offensive role.
Gordon’s most impressive defensive accomplishments this playoff run occured during the first two rounds, stopping Towns and Durant in their tracks, overpowering the slim snipers with physical strength, low-man positioning, and footwork technique to get up, under, and into the bodies of the tall sharpshooters to throw off their game.
Aaron Gordon held Kevin freakin’ Durant to 26/68 from the field on 38% FG% and 23% 3P% from deep, forcing him into twelve turnovers while fouling him on only nine shots throughout the series. AG was matched up with KD for 44 playoff minutes and 230 partial possessions, 2x as many as any defender this postseason, via NBA Stats.
Against Karl-Anthony Towns, Gordon kept Minnesota’s floor-stretching big to shoot 10/27 from the field at 27% FG%, forcing nine turnovers and fouling on six shots.
Rather than biting on pump-fakes, Gordon made perimeter stars Jimmy Butler and Anthony Edwards look human, a near-impossible task, using his size, speed, and technique to hold each star to shoot 10/21 from the field when directly matched up.
Star-stoppers can’t freeze every star from shining, but they can make the game harder than normal for the greats who normally dominate it.
Aaron Gordon is one of the rare truly positionless defenders, a big wing stopper who makes opposing stars’ lives harder on the court no matter how big, strong, or quick the foe may be.
AG’s thoughts on guarding LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, and stars in these playoffs:
"I’m definitely gonna be sitting in my rocking chair when I’m 79 or 90 years old and talking to my kids about ‘yeah, back in the day, I locked these guys up.’"
As Aaron Gordon shoots free throws late in the second quarter during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Mike Breen lists off some of the superstars AG’s been tasked to guard in this playoff run before shouting out Gordon’s high school basketball coach, Tim Kennedy, who Aaron credits for teaching the fundamentals he relies on to this day:
“For Aaron Gordon, he’s gotta guard a lot of talented players: Karl-Anthony Towns in the first round, Kevin Durant in the second, LeBron James in the conference final, now Jimmy Butler. (AG) credits his High School coach in San Jose, Tim Kennedy. Says, ‘he taught me all the defensive principles that work on every level.’ – Mike Breen, ESPN
Jeff Van Gundy immediately adds to the praise, “he’s got outstanding technique, Aaron Gordon does,” later noting Aaron’s refined footwork, positioning, and strength.
Coached by Tim Kennedy in San Jose for all four years at Archbishop Mitty High School, Aaron Gordon won back-to-back state championships in 2011 and 2012, was crowned California Mr. Basketball twice, was named MVP of the 2013 McDonald’s All-American Game, and was touted as the Bay Area News Group’s Player of the Decade.
The morning after the confetti dropped for Gordon’s NBA Champion Denver Nuggets over a decade later, Kennedy told the Bay Area News Group: “I’m exhausted, but seeing Aaron win it was a dream come true. When your players go to college, that’s special. When they get drafted, you think you’ve hit the top. But to win and be a world champion on the highest stage, it doesn’t get any better.”
Interview with Coach Tim Kennedy
from @BeyondTheRK
Tim Kennedy is entering his 16th season as Head Basketball Coach of the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs. Thankful for him taking the time to discuss defense, his coaching philosophy, and his first-hand experience coaching Aaron Gordon over his four high school seasons.
Highlighting the defensive principles Aaron Gordon learned early to help develop feel into skill, timing into technique, vision into playmaking.
Focusing on the details of defense: flipping hips with body control; forcing angles with balance, footwork & positioning; and bringing a team-first mentality of effort and energy
@BeyondTheRK
As a former player with experience all around the globe; from high school, college, Europe and the Irish national team; how would you define your coaching philosophy?
Tim Kennedy
So my coaching philosophy is all about trying to help guys get the best out of themselves, to figure out ways that they can be their best self, and help a team be great to contribute to winning. So it's really trying to trying to recognize that basketball is a team game, but you're trying to get the best out of your potential and really knowing how to compete.
I like to steal a lot of stuff from Pete Carroll, on his definition of compete: thriving to be your best self and that's going to bring the best out of others.
With our competition, controlling what you can control, a lot of that mental aspect as well. Being able to control your mind onto the next play, where you don't get wrapped up in the last play or anything in the future. That's kind of our core message that I'm trying to bring out to everybody is to be a connected team; but, also, you're working on your individual self, trying to be your best self, because it's going to help the team and not only be strong physically, but mentally as well.
What we build our program off of is we want to teach our guys how to compete and also how to get onto that next play.
@BeyondTheRK
That winning mentality — staying in the moment, focusing on the play at hand, no ups or downs too high or too low.
On that same theme, the first time you met Aaron, the first thing he said to you was, "Coach, I just want to get better, and I just want to win." This approach works for many talented players who want to find ultimate success.
How much do you think that coachable mindset helped the development of a player like Aaron Gordon, who has so much natural born talent and athleticism?
Tim Kennedy
That's what separates him, his mentality. There was a number of guys through his class that were All-Americans with him that don't have the same success as him, because they don't have the same mentality. They have the same athleticism and basketball skills, but they don't have what's inbetween his ears. That's what separates him, that's what you get when you get elite athleticism and this strong mind, that mentality, you can go wherever you want with that, and you're gonna be successful. So that's a huge separator for Aaron.
@BeyondTheRK
Coming into the league with so many different tools, one could think anything was possible, but Gordon obviously had to stick to a path and develop something to become something. Now, he’s well-rounded his game as a defender, play-finisher, and post-up playmaker.
One of Aaron's most versatile defensive displays of this championship run came during Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals. Gordon defended seven different players who attempted shots on him, holding the collective group to 3/13 from the field with zero shooting fouls while deterring Jimmy Butler to shoot just 2/5 from the field.
This is actually the game where on the broadcast, Mike Breen credits you directly, shouting out Coach Tim Kennedy as the teacher Gordon credits most for instilling the defensive principles that translate to every level, with Jeff Van Gundy immediately adding, 'he's got outstanding technique, Aaron Gordon does.’
Could you detail any of the fundamentals, techniques, and principles that they might be referring to, what skills Aaron possesses that separates his defense from other similar-sized athletes? Are these tools that players at any level can learn, practice, and develop; or, are they more the result of his specific combination of work, feel, and talent?
Tim Kennedy
Yeah, I think it's unique for Aaron to be this successful with it, because of his mentality. His mindset of being so coachable, he absorbs everything, and he's such a high-level competitor, where he wants to find any way to get an edge to try to beat you. He absorbs all that.
The nice thing when I was younger when I was coaching him, I didn't have kids yet, so we were able to play a ton of one on one, as he's a freshman and sophomore. I was still older, but I was able to score on him, just because I was able to use use fakes and use angles and get into his body certain way.
So, being able to teach him through the angles on defense when we're playing one on one was a little unique to get that one on one time. We would harp on it a ton during our practices, but Aaron was unique, where we would get to play one on one and he was able to build off of that, by just playing one on one.
Where he took it to heart, he cared about it , and realized that defense wins championships.
So the big thing for him is his mentality. In high school, he got all the praise for all of his dunks, and he was just looked at as an athletic freak who can go rebound like crazy. But one reason we were able to be so successful is that he anchored our defense, just like kind of what you saw this past year, in that he had an impact on winning.
If somebody was going and getting it on the other side for the other team, he would go guard that person, whether it was a big, whether it was a guard, point guard, just kind of like you mentioned in game three, he would guard everyone's best player, and he wouldn't shy away from that. He gave me a little credit for just talking through the angles, the way you force guys to a side and be able to cut them off.
And the big thing is we always came back to his mentality. Hopefully that's what he was talking about, just being able to cut off angles and have a mentality of defense being a ton of competitiveness where you just you want to do it. That's something that we talked about a lot.
@BeyondTheRK
The two stars Gordon affected the most in the 2023 NBA playoffs were Kevin Durant and Karl Anthony Towns, and I would comfortably say he shut them down.
AG held KD to 38% from the field on 26 of 68 shots and 23% from deep; he forced Durant into 12 turnovers, fouling on only nine shots through the entire series. Gordon guarded Durant on 230 partial possessions, twice as many as any other defender in the playoffs. The series prior, Gordon held Towns to 10 of 27 from the field (27% FG%), forcing nine turnovers, and fouling on only six shots.
What factors did you see at play in these matchups that might have resulted in Gordon's most effective defense coming against taller slimmer sharp shooting stars in Durant and Towns? Any technique fundamentals an average basketball player can pick up, practice, study, and learn here in the way Gordon learned the angles?
Tim Kennedy
One of the biggest things: his active hands. We're big on having active hands when we're guarding the ball. If you look at Aaron, he's got active hands where they're not comfortable when they're catching it, and laying off a lot of times, he's got active hands tracing the ball is what we like to make sure we're doing.
We want teams to feel us, we talk about that a lot.
So the ball pressure, that's something that anybody could do, it's just a little bit more of a challenge depending on your speed; how, if a guy is able to blow by, you gotta recognize are you arm's length away or are you climbing in? Like, Aaron is such a good athlete, he can climb in and trace a ball and make you uncomfortable for you; where, if they put it on the deck, he can still recover. So, that's a big thing is that he was able to put a tremendous amount of ball pressure and not everybody has the natural length that he does. So that's something that we can't teach. But, it's always nice when you have some length, because you can really disrupt and make it a little bit more difficult.
So from a technique standpoint, the ball pressure and the weight, the angle of your ball pressure, whichever way you want to force; if you're a team that forces sideline or forces middle. For us, we're, we're sending them to the baseline and sideline. And he does a great job where, it's gonna change with the NBA with scouting reports on the numbers, they have so much information on where they want to send guys. But, he's able to cut off and not put himself in bad situations where if they are able to take a bounce or go by, he's able to get a hip turn, which we were big on teaching, again, getting your chest back in front.
That's something that everybody can practice and teach, is being able to just flip that hip and be able to sprint and get that chest in front; and, it's not so much about just a defensive slide, it's more of being able to hip turn and cut a guy off. That's something that he's so effective at, a high basketball IQ and a high motor, just to want to do it and take some pride in it.
That's the one thing that was cool anytime you listened to the huddle or after the postgame, (Denver Nuggets Head Coach) Mike Malone is very similar with just being about your effort, your attitude towards defense, the shot selection, if you care about winning, you're gonna play some defense. So he's got a lot of similarities to the way we talked through how you want to compete as a defender, as a basketball player. That's what I think spoke to Aaron a little bit and helped him buy into being that defensive stopper, just being a part of a winning culture, because I know it was eating him up, you know, with his time in Orlando.
@BeyondTheRK
Any differences in what you see from Gordon between playing with the two Nikolas (with Jokic in Denver and Vucevic in Orlando)?
Do you think AG credits the winning impact today to development after Orlando or more of a better fit and opportunity with the new role next to Jokic being such a good open shot creator superstar compared to Vucevic's more prodding post-ups?
With Gordon shutting down the other team's best player, guarding one through five, playmaking out of the post, and stretching the floor vertically as an elite lob threat, do you see any comparison to AG being like the Shawn Marion play-finishing lockdown defensive ace to Jokic's dynamic scoring creator mix of Nash and Nowitzki?
Tim Kennedy
No, I think that's very shrewd with that. But I also think it all comes from his mindset.
Where, when he was in Orlando, you didn't have the guy, there was the mindset and then also the people around him.
I think the buy in is so much better in Denver than it was in Orlando. The one thing I learned just being out there, I got to go to Game 5 when they won it, and being around it, he was the one kind of organizing team get-togethers. He was the one bringing guys together. I think they were more connected in Denver, as a team and unit. It helps when you're winning, of course.
I think Aaron tried to do that a little bit (in Orlando), he was younger, though, as he was coming up, but guys weren't all about winning there. It wasn't all about, 'hey, let's do this together as a unit.' You know, it's a business, and a lot of guys I felt like didn't buy into the whole team and the program of what they were trying to do, from an outsider's perspective.
@BeyondTheRK
Magic Fans could see a miscast group where everyone seemed overtasked in the wrong type of role, like asking scorers to be creators for others with all these play-finishers flying around without a true distributor. That's something Gordon has just never had, whereas Jokic is the best point guard he’s ever played with.
I remember a random moment, where Gordon is walking down a hallway with Giannis at an All-Star event, the mics are on, and you can just tell how envious he is of Giannis and the Bucks contending every season, wheres he says something along the lines of, 'Man, I would just love to be on a team like that, where we’re playing for something, competing every night, where you're trying to win every game to build something big in the long term’, and it's nice to see him finally get that opportunity in just about the perfect role.
Tim Kennedy
Yeah, definitely. That's where he got into Denver and it just fits him, it fits his purpose and what he's all about from a competitive mindset. So you couldn't ask for a better fit, but, also, I think Malone has done a heck of a job to put him in different situations where he's also having him trigger the offense. Then you have Jokic doing it and you have Murray so you're giving all sorts of different looks, they're a tough three-headed monster to prepare for, and then you got Michael Porter as well so they throw so many different options at you that you got to pick your poison.
@BeyondTheRK
No doubt, like that one Horns Elbow play with variations where they just eat, they get open buckets every play out of it. Gordon sets one back screen at the elbow, Jamal runs off the screen into a handoff with Jokic, all three moving in sync becoming unstoppable once they all start rolling like that, you just have to leave someone open or mismatched.
Tim Kennedy
Totally agree, you can switch it and you're still gonna get a mismatch so it's a nightmare for defenses to prepare for.
@BeyondTheRK
That was how they scored against the Heat all those times (in Game 1) getting Gordon those mismatches on Vincent and Strus, posting up everybody.
Gordon had the same post up scoring efficiency by PPP as Vucevic in some later years even though the Magic were running most plays through Vooch, so it makes sense that AG can be effective as a postup playmaker, especially against second units when Jokic needs a breather. One other aspect that seems different is he seems a lot stronger now than he was maybe a few years back, so that maybe allowed him to play more five?
Tim Kennedy
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. He's definitely put on some. You know, losing to Golden State, I think really changed him, like he came back a different focused guy, he didn't come back to California during last summer. Even this past summer he wasn't, just because he was in the gym and he was busy all over the place, but the year before after they lost to Golden State, I think he had a renewed mindset of getting in the gym, not being distracted, not hanging out. It was finding ways to be like, 'Hey, we need to go, you got a little taste in the playoffs, they knew they had some special, let's figure this thing out.’
@BeyondTheRK
How do you measure good defense when you're breaking down film?
How do you attribute an individual breakdown when the goals are group-oriented?
Would you rather your defense know where to be and be a half step slow or make a few mistakes going all out with maximum effort?
Tim Kennedy
Definitely want maximum effort. And, you know, I'm greedy, I'm a Coach, I want maximum effort and perfect positioning. I think we can coach the both of that.
But I think our big thing is really controlling the paint and controlling the three point line now. We're tracking paint touches and tracking uncontested shots, and the last thing would be of course, fouling. We talk about just not letting teams get into the paint, and if we do that, we feel like we give ourselves the best opportunity to win. Because we're going to be flying around and be aggressive. So that's kind of our mindset from a defensive end.
The other thing we talk about a lot is winning space. And that's something Aaron was great at is that he would win space on both sides of the floor. One thing we didn't really talk about was a little bit of Aaron's offense; by his senior year, he was playing point guard for us as well.
Well, we'd also get him into the post where he of course would have mismatches, but he was able to play multiple positions and he would just win space on both ends of the floor; so it made our lives a lot easier and made me look like a better coach, of course.
@BeyondTheRK
You mentioned how your team likes to force baseline or towards the sideline; how do you balance the style of defense that you'd like to play and the identity you’d like to build versus the timing of in-game adjustments that you feel you need to make in the moment?
Tim Kennedy
Yeah, so, we've adapted. This is my 16th year now at Archbishop Mitty, and I was a little bit younger with Aaron, of course. So we've adapted to more of a switching defense to go along with a lot of the more contemporary defenses that you see.
But we will make gametime adjustments, whether our pick and roll coverage needs to be different, or maybe we're not switching against one guy and we're chasing him over every screen. So we definitely will make adjustments on the fly, as necessary, especially if teams are hurting us or being able to pick apart mismatches that we're not making quick enough adjustments with our base defense.
@BeyondTheRK
Did you have any other specific tips, especially if it correlates back to Aaron Gordon's technique, any lessons that any defenders can pick up or coaches can learn?
Tim Kennedy
Yeah, I think from a defensive standpoint, it was pretty cool getting the praise, and that Aaron felt like he learned the defensive principles.
Because one nice thing, it was a compliment from Coach Sean Miller when Aaron got to Arizona, how conceptually on defense, Gordon knew what to do right away, whether it be the ball pressure, the jump into the ball, the stunting.
So I think I was lucky from the fact that, up until recently, I was the longest tenured coach for Aaron, because I had him all four years; he went to Arizona and had Miller for a year, and then he went to Orlando and had five coaches in five years, (now entering Year 4 with Coach Mike Malone here in Denver.)
So I think that continuity helps build that, just giving him the basics of our ball pressure, the way we trace the ball.
I think it’s his willingness to buy into defense, which anybody could learn to do, because a lot of defense is built off of effort, energy, and your attitude towards it.
We just tried to build out how to be a competitor that he totally bought into. So when your best player's doing it, everyone else is gonna buy in.
But from a technique standpoint, it was a lot of your basic --- we're going to get ball pressure, we're going to force him one way and be able to stay on balance; and you look at Aaron's balance, it's amazing. He never really catches himself where he's got his weight leaning one way or the other where he's off balance, and the way he's able to hip turn and cut people off is something that is natural for him, something that he repped and prepped and he cares about.
So there's no special ingredient there that I can give you that every other coach hasn't talked about. We're just lucky enough that he bought into it, and he really excelled at it, and he had elite athleticism and length that made it look ten times better than it would if you had a regular high school kid doing it.”
“He’s just a great person, great player, great work ethic, and competitor.” – Coach TK on AG
"I know kung-fu"
Did Nuggets Head Coach Mike Malone pull a fast one on bench units around the association, saving his best Jokic-less lineups for when the lights burned brightest?
From the regular season to the post-season, Aaron Gordon flipped the script on his second unit impact by the numbers:
with Gordon ON and Jokic OFF
-7.7 Net Rating in 123 MIN in Regular Season
+7.4 Net Rating in 121 MIN through 3 Western Conference Playoff rounds
+12 Net Rating in 146 MIN through the entire playoffs including the 2023 NBA Finals
Anytime the duo is ON the court together, they’ve dominated to the tune of a +14 Net Rating, usually alongside the rest of the starters.
Here’s how the Nuggets’ Net Rating looked with Gordon and Jokic ON and OFF the court in this Western Conference Finals run (all playoff games before the Finals), where Coach Malone did not go one minute with Gordon and Jokic OFF the court:
Nikola Jokic putting up Wilt numbers for an entire post-season after multiple MVP seasons should scary everyone.
30 PTS — 13.5 REB — 9.5 AST — 2.1 STL+BLK
shooting 57% 2P% / 46% 3P% / 80% FT%
on 17 2PA / 4 3PA / 7 FTA
per game
through the playoffs
not his best game
his per game averages over twenty playoff games to win an NBA Championship.
Winning games while scoring efficiently, averaging a 30-point triple double with a 12-3 playoff record on the way to the Finals, Jokic’s 8 triple doubles in the Western Conference playoff run broke a record held by Wilt Chamberlain since 1967.
After the Finals, Jokic set the new record at 10 triple doubles for a single playoff run.
In the takedown of the Lakers, Jamal Murray became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 PPG at the coveted 50/40/90 shooting line, doing so in a conference finals, becoming the second player since Kevin Durant to average 30 PPG on 50/40/90 in multiple playoff series after reaching the same thresholds against Donovan Mitchell’s Jazz in the 2020 bubble, via @jkubatko of Basketball Reference.
Jamal’s been on such a scorcher scoring the ball that everyone has no choice but to upgrade the “Bubble Murray” nickname to “Playoff Murray” status.
Entering the Finals, Jokic and Jamal tied their own Denver Nuggets record from 2020 with ten 25 PT games in a playoff run, trailing only Carmelo Anthony (11) and Alex English (13) for most in a single playoff run, via ESPN stats & info.
After the Finals, Jokic set the new franchise record with fourteen 25PT games in a playoff run, while Jamal (12) hopped Melo (11) to rank 3rd all-time for the team.
Joining Magic Johnson (1987, 1988); Michael Jordan (1991); and LeBron James (2017, 2018) as the only four players ever to average 20+ PPG and 10+ APG over an NBA Finals series, Jamal Murray has landed in legendary territory.
Whether he was doubled, iced, or blitzed in pick-and-roll, Jamal Murray had no problem beating defenses as a playmaker.
Murray only faced 12 traps in the post-season (0.83 PPP), yet scored 1.06 PPP in 107 possessions when the defense commits and helped the team score 1.17 PPP on all 319 P&R Ball-Handler possessions when including shots and passes.
When the Jamal-Jokic two-man game is cooking like this, there’s not much defenses can do but get out of the kitchen, switch up coverages, make the stars work harder than normal every play, throw in traps on the smaller player to close off a scoring valve. Neither player is creating much separation against the best playoff defenders, yet all either player needs is an inch to take a mile-high jumper or dime out of doubles.
Gordon complements Jamal and Jokic as well as any player can, all three making each other better individually and as a unit because they allow each other to focus on the skills they do best: Jamal on-ball scoring, Jokic team-first shot-creating, and Gordon finishing plays created off others while defending the other team’s best player.
Jokic and Jamal combine forces as a sublime re-screening handoff hub, as Nikola ranks Top-25 in direct assist combos to every teammate in the starting lineup in the regular season, while Jamal assisting Jokic out of the two-man game ranks T-3rd in assist combos in the entire league, slightly behind Jokic to Gordon (T-2).
In the post-season, The Joker’s passing hub is laughably good. Even considering that Denver and Miami have the most games played as the last two teams standing, how is it possible that Nikola Jokic ranks 1st 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th in direct assist combos?!
2023 NBA Playoff Assist Combo Leaders
1) 73 AST to Jokic from Jamal
2) 46 AST to Jamal from Jokic
3) 39 AST to KCP from Jokic
4) 38 AST to AG from Jokic
3) 37 AST to MPJ from Jokic
Finding versatile defenders who stretch the floor and make good decisions with the ball is key to filling out depth for a playoff rotation.
Aaron Gordon’s high-end big wing starter impact and two-way versatility is vital to this juggernaut’s success.
The Nuggets added an elite winning player without giving up anything of blue-chip value, giving up two players and a likely late first that hold little longterm trade value in a former first-round prospect (R.J. Hampton, already off the Magic for nothing in return); a reliable 3&D role player veteran guard in Gary Harris, and a protected 2025 Denver first-round pick likely in the late twenties with a superstar in Jokic around.
Denver’s backcourt is filled with plus-defenders who tend to make good decisions offensively, between Kentavious Caldwell-Pope checking smaller starting guards and the plug-and-play energy of Bruce Brown and Christian Braun.
New Nuggets GM Calvin Booth has done his job filling this rotation with two-way team-first players who can stay on the floor in the playoffs and fill a role around the core four scorers who were originally drafted and traded for by former Nuggets GM Tim Connelly, who is now head honcho in Minnesota.
The Nuggets’ new starting five of Jamal-KCP-AG-MPJ-Jokic blasted through regular season foes with a +13.1 Net Rating in 706 MIN together.
The Jamal-Porter-Gordon-Jokic foursome has finally come to fruition; those two weeks of post-trade deadline basketball bliss weren’t a fever dream after all.
Securing a playoff-proven D&3 guard in KCP is the type of underrated move to address fit for an offensive-heavy starting lineup needing floor-spacing play-finishers who can defend opposing guards, even if it cost two long-tenured Denver fan-favorites in Monte Morris and Will Barton, a clean decision-making backup point guard who perennially topped the league in Assist to Turnover ratio and a volatile scorer with good north-south burst, respectfully.
Coach Mike Malone saved the idea of playing Gordon as the backup five surrounded with spacing, with the best mix featuring Michael Porter Jr. as the help-side rim-protecting stretch four in a switchable all tall-forward frontcourt usually rounded out by Jeff Green until Denver needed it most.
Playing three versatile wings when Jokic sits, the Green-Porter-Gordon trio scorched opponents to a +32.5 Net Rating in 40 MIN together in this run to the NBA Finals.
AG not only defends the opposing team’s best perimeter player, he answers Denver’s backup center dilemma in the playoffs as a post-up playmaker.
After rating below average defensively in the regular season, Denver turned up the intensity, shortening the rotation to two-way versatile defenders around its shooting stars, rating fifth in Defense through the playoff run.
Through twenty playoff games on the way to a title, The Nuggets ranked 2nd in Offense and 1st in Net Rating by a +6 Point Differential, via Cleaning The Glass. Sometimes good offense blowing out your opponent by the third is good defense.
The shot-blocking, tough shot-making, and two-way versatility of Michael Porter Jr. has gone slightly unnoticed in this Nuggets playoff run, protecting the paint for this Nuggets’ frontcourt next to offensive minded stars.
Porter’s sacrificed on-ball touches in exchange for doing the dirty work for Denver, showing his catch-and-shoot prowess, rim-protection instincts, and team-first coachability can help a team win at the highest level.
While Gordon takes the initial task of guarding the opposing team’s best wing, Porter’s the next man up when inevitable switches come into play.
The pair complement each other on and off the ball. Each forward’s skill-set can be used to roll or pop in double-screen P&R for Jamal or Jokic like Horns, Double-Drag, Chicago, where MPJ’s feathery touch stretches defenses horizontally with shooting from deep while Gordon’s strong rim-rolling presence stretches defenses vertically, silmultaneously threatening what they each do best with cerebral scoring creators Jamal and Jokic looking to set up the best shot for the team.
AG’s strong post-up playmaking and MPJ’s smooth movement shooting provide reliable scoring options in the minutes Jokic needs rest, with the Nuggets able to defend just about any opposing team second unit with three long versatile wings.
Role players used to be specialists, elite at one or two specific skills, filling one or two roles; a sparkplug sixth man third guard, a hustling energetic rebounder, an off-ball motion shooter, a 3&D wing who can fill out a lineup with two-way balance. Today they may look more like well-rounded good basketball players, team-first connectors who can dribble pass shoot to attack closeouts and go off any given night.
Accepting your role doesn’t make you a role player. Filling your role means you’ve done your job for your team; starring in your role shows impact and production due to the right mix of fit, talent, and opportunity.
Aaron Gordon has proven to be the playoff’s most versatile defender and the most impactful defender on the best team from start to finish this season, a versatile anchor on one end who can beat you in a multitude of ways on the other.
An ever-energetic big wing defensive ace, a mismatch-hunting post-up scorer, an explosive second jump rebounder, a team-first connector and secondary kickout playmaker, a willing perimeter shooter, and an elite vertical lob threat play-finisher, Air Gordon catches passes with strong hands, aware timing, and soft touch on near-impossible alley-layups that he makes look routine.
Aaron fills too many roles on both ends of the floor as a do-it-all defender and secondary playmaking slashing play-finisher to be considered just a role player; Gordon’s two-way versatility offers high-end starter impact vital to a juggernaut’s success to contend, a winning player who brings nightly effort, lockdown defense, and advantage-seeking mismatch missile scoring efficiency.
Aaron Gordon isn’t just a role player; he’s an every role player.
Coach Mike Malone after Gordon’s big first half in Game 1 of the NBA Finals:
"I think Aaron Gordon is a prime example of somebody who's truly selfless. He does a lot of the dirty work for us. And a lot of times he doesn't get the credit that he deserves."
"Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony"
The reigning back-to-back MVP’s team just ran away with the West, making light work of the brightest stars the NBA Playoffs have to offer.
Nuggets fans will be quick to point out how this Denver run has claimed revenge over three teams that knocked them out of recent playoff aspirations: The last-game-of-the-season unofficial play-in game against Minnesota, The Bubble Lakers with matchup menace Dwight Howard, and the eventual 2021 Finals-making Phoenix Suns.
Durant and Booker may be the two most talented individual scorers playing in the postseason, but with no surrounding defense to get stops, the Suns trying to trade buckets with the Joker’s solar system over an entire series proved to be too difficult.
The T-Wolves went all in on a defensive center who protects the rim well against the aggregate in the regular season, racking up a lot of blocks against the average team, which includes a lot of bad ones; yet, he doesn’t seem to phase opposing stars when the lights are brightest.
Jokic moves Gobert around the paint like he’s not even there, picking him up and flicking him away like a toothpick, finishing over, around, and through the lanky defender with masterful footwork, shoulder-fakes, and a few backdown dribbles.
The Lakers’ #1 rated defense in the league since the trade deadline looked like deer in the headlights the first time they stared directly at Denver’s heliocentric sun, no-showing in Game 1 before the rare conference finals sweep that somehow became more competitive as it went on.
Protecting the rim is a primary goal for nearly every great defense. Like Gobert, AD is a top-notch rim-protecting shot-blocker. While both are versatile defenders, neither seems to slow down Jokic individually due to the size and feel advantage, with neither able to close off the looks he creates for others in any capacity. Maybe no one can. Other than Dwight’s disarray in the bubble, there hasn’t been any individual defender capable of slowing down the sombor shuffling mismatch and good shot creating system that Jokic’s methodical decision-making creates.
While deterring opponents away from the paint with rim protection remains a vital piece of the puzzle, versatile strength to switch every matchup, contest every shot, make opposing stars work, and prevent mismatches from brewing all remain key to slowing down Denver’s spread handoff attack in any form.
Maybe overloading, confusing, and swarming Jamal Murray to slow down the smaller guard is the most realistic goal for defenses to put out one budding flame before it catches fire since stopping Jokic from producing in any capacity is near impossible.
Get up under Jokic, make him hit tough shots, mix up coverages or simply guard straight up as often as possible, while throwing off Jamal with hard hedges, switches, traps and recovers in P&R; and then, pray. Don’t forget to pray.
With Jokic operating around the block, the elbow, and beyond the arc, the shot-blocking rim-deterrent impact where Gobert and AD are most effective against the league aggregate isn’t quite enough to slow down the shots Jokic creates for himself and others away from the rim. Making Jokic work harder than normal, take tough shots, drain energy and draw fouls may be the most one can do when facing an unguardable superstar.
Denver creates perimeter looks for knockdown shooters like Jokic, Jamal, Porter, away from the rim, mismatch scoring opportunities in the post or on the wing, and off-ball cuts and baseline dunker spot lobs to Gordon any time he’s left open near the rim.
When the other team’s system relies on brute strength, soft touch tough shot finishing, and methodical post-up footwork surrounded by never-ending cuts off drives and kicks, rather than one-dimensional post-ups or a singular north-south drive to the rack, a single rim-protector can only do so much on his own as they’re normally asked to rotate and switch out onto the perimeter, reducing their impact after stopping the initial drive-and-kick.
Modern basketball teams require long, agile, strong defenders who can switch seamlessly and all help each other protect the rim as they rotate through coverage and show grab-and-go feel to time up rebounds and push the pace off of them with dribble-pass-shoot skills and quick decision-making capabilities.
While this is Denver’s first NBA Finals, the franchise’s first official Finals appearance came in 1976 during the ABA’s final season before the merger.
Led by the skywalking David Thompson, the Nuggets were a pillar of the ABA’s success, a league that directly influenced the game we all love today.
If you enjoy the modern NBA game’s exciting grab-and-go style of play with the up-and-down pace and focus on dunks and threes, the invention of the 3pt line itself, the dunk contest, and in-arena fanfare like dance teams, feel free to thank George Mikan for implementing these ideas in the ABA and youtube David Thompson and The Doctor, Julius Erving.
Denver’s two Finals trips in franchise history made possible by a couple of Skywalkers.
The Most Versatile Defender of the 2023 NBA Playoffs
100+ Film Clips Rewatching Aaron Gordon’s Game Tape through the 2023 Denver Nuggets Championship Run
Themes of AG’s Playoff Success
Drawing mismatches on switches, post-up scoring with strength, footwork, explosion
Variations of Horns P&R as AG sets Elbow back/rip screens into Jamal-Jokic DHO
Dynamic play-finisher cutting off ball, rolling through the paint, ready to take off for slip-screen slams and alley-oops from the dunker spot
One-dribble gathers with practiced footwork to load up for Air Gordon’s patented power slams after using patience, body control balance, and positioning to gather under the rim, adjust, and burst through any defender in the way for a foul or finish.
Knocking down open catch-and-shoot threes, attacking closeouts with stepback pull-ups and dribble drives into rim-attacks, post-ups, and clean fadeaway finishes.
Transition force attacking the rack with body and ball control, sometimes after forcing the turnover or contesting the shot and leaking out, especially if already switched onto a mismatch to then search for outlet seals deep in the paint; making the right play attacking the rack, drive-and-kicking the ball out as a good decision-making team-first connector
Making life difficult for the other team’s best player at any position 1-5, in this case getting underneath taller shooting stars like Towns and Durant, holding them to a combined 38% FG% on 95 total FGA forcing 21 turnovers when directly matched up.
The ultimate big wing defensive ace and play-finishing swish army knife on the most dominant team from start to finish all season.
Below is a 27 minute compilation featuring all of Air Gordon’s most impactful moments throughout the 2023 NBA Playoffs; for a series-by-series, game-by-game, play-by-play breakdown of over 100 marquee moments made by Aaron Gordon throughout his championship run with the Denver Nuggets, keep reading.
"You take the blue pill... the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe…
…You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
Western Conference First Round
Nuggets vs. Timberwolves
(4 - 1)
“You have to let it all go, Neo
- fear, doubt, and disbelief.
Free your mind!"
Game 1
After hitting an early triple, Air Gordon shows off the full arsenal in one sequence: contesting Towns’ shot; stealing rebound away from Towns; pushing pace coast-to-coast; using brute strength body control to drive right through a defender and graceful athleticism to fly past another for the spinning two-handed spiderman SLAM!
Gordon held Towns to a goose egg when individually matched up, with Aaron keeping Karl-Anthony to 0/4 FG, 3 TO, and 0 shooting fouls.
All The Nuggets’s offense needs to do is not implode in the eight or so minutes with Jokic on the bench. How does a scheme revolving around a one-of-a-kind heliocentric scoring creator find ways to score when the sun leaves the orbit?
Gordon rating as a good or better scorer in every playtype creates a versatile shot profile that provides Denver multiple playmaking options to create shots.
A 35% 3PT shooter this year, when AG’s three-ball is hitting, popping out after setting strong screens provides a counter to his rolling vertical threat, stretching the floor horizontally instead. Gordon can pump-fake, attack closeouts, and drive-and-kick.
With Jokic on the bench, Gordon’s scoring versatility becomes a needed, reliable scoring option, especially against generally smaller second units.
Game 2
Two playoffs games, two quick breakaway highlight fast break jams.
Maybe thunderous two-handed spiderman slams are just Air Gordon’s signature move.
Gordon’s brute strength giving KAT no space on faceups, giving no ground on backdowns, and giving Towns fits all series: 3 turnovers and 1 missed shot with AG on KAT, 4 PTS scored off turnovers and 1 offensive foul on Towns after the smartly timed step-in charge by Uncle Jeff.
Aaron goes ISO using strength, crossovers, and footwork to move his defender out of the way, and keep the balance to spin through contact and finish at the rim.
Smaller, weaker players on the wing who AG can explode by provide an exploitable one-on-one mismatch for Gordon to take advantage, score, kick, or draw the foul.
Telepathic Slip Screens, Putbacks, and Dunker Spot Alley-Oops
Aaron Gordon showing bounce, timing, instincts to crash the glass for a reverse putback jam.
Nikola Jokic executing inverted handoffs like Steve Nash running quick pistol action with Amare Stoudamire or Shawn Marion rolling hard to the rack.
Sometimes, Aaron slips the screen into the paint or is left in the dunker spot for a wide open rim-rocker, as Jokic always stays looking for any chance to dish the rock.
Grant Hill on that final Jokic-Gordon Connection:
“What’s crazy here, on that screen and roll action, Jokic catches the ball and almost instinctually knew that Gordon was going to be there. His ability to survey, even before he recieves the ball, understanding where his teammates were, just a great pass there…
Just the little things, his passing, his awareness. Like Steve Nash, I played with Steve Nash, a guy who really didn’t want to beat you scoring, he wanted to beat you passing. Jokic, really one of the best passers we’ve ever seen in this league.”
Later in the series, Grant Hill adds,
“You can’t double team (Jokic) at the free throw line, a little like Dirk Nowitzki when he played in Dallas. You put him there, you post him up, a great read.”
Game 3
Aaron Gordon supersizing switching, defending KAT one play, Gobert the next.
Closes out on Towns, guards the drive, grabs the board, pushes the pace
Switches onto Gobert in P&R, uses body strength and vertical leap to fight for low man position before contesting Gobert’s tough reverse attempt
Gordon making Towns work for his points, keeping KAT to 3/7 FG from the field
Aaron Gordon flashes the shooting touch, footwork, and body control for Dirk Fades after creating advantages in the paint with the dribble drive and/or postup mismatch.
“Goodbye, Mr. Anderson.”
AG cuts to the block anytime he feels a size advantage in the post, and Jokic never refuses a pass. Unless the opposing player is a strong center, there’s not too many players Gordon can’t overpower in the paint anymore.
Gordon finds himself guarded by the smaller Kyle Anderson, quickly pushes his way to the post, sticks his hand up through the foul, spins and draws the whistle.
When either player can and will hit a pull-up jumper, the inverted Jamal-Jokic Handoff can be an unstoppable action. Jamal has assisted Jokic 152 times this season, tied for the 3rd highest Assist Combo right behind Jokic to Gordon. (155) In return, Jokic has assisted Jamal 107 times, ranking 24th in among duos.
Jokic is such a shot-creating hub himself, he ranks 13th in Assist Combos with Michael Porter Jr. at 121 assists and 18th with Kentavious Caldwell Pope at 115 assists, tied with how many times Draymond assisted Klay and Steph this year. (115)
Denver’s different variations of Horns and Elbow back/rip screens into a handoff has been one of their most trusted actions throughout this run to the title, creating an early advantage to attack for everyone involved between Gordon back-screening Jamal’s man at the elbow and rolling while accelerating momentum and disrupting defenders for Jamal and Jokic in two-man game handoff.
Like a play-action football team hitting the streaking tight end after running the ball all game, sometimes the Nuggets throw a counter to their backscreen/handoff where Gordon slips the screen into a wide open paint because the defense overloads the ball.
Here, Jamal and AG flip roles as Murray sets the back/rip screen for AG to cut into an uncontested reverse alley-oop from Jokic:
Here, Gordon draws foul operating Horns pick-and-roll and driving into contact on give-and-go handoff with Jokic at elbow.
Game 4
Switchable defensive versatility on full display, with Aaron Gordon contesting shots and forcing turnovers on Anthony Edwards, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Rudy Gobert.
Watch Gordon bounce back from defending the drive to contest Ant on stepback pull-up triples, stop and contain a drive and contest a three from Ant in the same possession, contest and block Towns on the way up during his rip-through, and swat Gobert at the rim in help defense from the corner.
While perimeter creation duties could be overtasking him, AG’s overqualified when it comes to his closeout-attacking powers. A willing shooter forces defenses react nearly as much as if not more than a less-winning, more efficient shooter, opening up driving lanes to counter.
AG pulls from a plethora of dribble drive ball tricks in his bag, stepping back for the pull-up three some plays, even showing off Dirk Fade shooting touch in the post after creating advantage by attacking the defender to create space.
Aaron Gordon shows his elite second jump with the putback slam, flying up to the rim any chance he gets. Whether he’s rim-rolling, lurking in the dunker spot, ready to pounce on a putback, Air Gordon stays hovering near the rim every play.
Here in empty side P&R , defense traps ball with no weak side help, pocket pass to AG set screen roll into one-handed slam over late rotation contest.
One defensive possession stands out showing Gordon’s switchability defending and contesting both Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley in two seperate pick-and-rolls.
Gordon’s hustle highlighted by following that effort up sprinting down the floor to seal Conley under the rim after forcing Mike to pick up Aaron on the fast break after the missed shot, creating post-up mismatch that Jokic instantly sees in transition.
AG seems to hunt these transition seal opportunities, especially after switching onto a smaller player on defense and contesting a shot, providing an opportunity to sprint and seal off the miss before the defense is set.
Aaron’s instincts in full bloom, blocking both Gobert and KAT in the fourth.
During the 12-0 comeback to force overtime, Gordon’s two-way impact was felt everywhere, featuring a give-and-go in transition with Jokic for the fast break slam.
Watch Gordon cover two bigs at once, leaving his man (KAT) in the corner to time up the block in help defense on the rolling Gobert (nice contest by MPJ), after stripping Towns on the way up on a rip-through foul-bait attempt earlier in the quarter.
Game 5
With the T-Wolves up against the wall, Minnesota starts fast.
Trailing in the second quarter, Denver run the elbow-handoff in an ATO set. Jokic short-rolls into a touch pass to AG waiting in the dunker spot for an open slam. Grant Hill calls it the “best offensive possession this half for Denver” due to ball and player movement. Defending that many options moving in that many directions at once becomes an impossible task for the defense once everyone starts moving.
A quick one-handed tip-in by Gordon through traffic later in the game again shows off his quick bounce second jump.
Gordon’s effort never waned.
AG’s frenetic energy in the closing minutes helped secure the series win.
Up two with under a minute to play, Gordon stays locked on Anthony Edwards’ every move, forcing up a tough contested fadeaway.
Flashback: Christmas Day 2022
Aaron Gordon throws down the NBA’s official Dunk of the Year with a Poster SLAM over Landry Shamet in the Marquee Matchup Nuggets-Suns Christmas Day Game !
Western Conference Semis
Nuggets vs. Suns
(4 - 2)
"Denial is the most predictable of all human responses"
Game 1
On paper, the individual matchups between the top four stars seem to favor Suns, between a healthy Paul and AYton available next to the nuclear firepower of Booker and Durant. Doubling Booker or KD leaves the other one open, a near-impossible task for any defense.
In the first half of Game 1, KD looks as unguardable as ever, getting any shot he wants while acting as a one-man rim-protector with three blocks.
And still, the Suns still trailed the Nuggets by 17 at half, unable to get any stops against Denver’s mile high milky way galaxy. Not a great sign when your best player is getting anything he wants only for the team to trail by double digits after two quarters.
Skilled shot-makers moving in sync, keeping the ball on a string until the open man is found, everyone knows their role for Denver. The Nuggets’ offense moves on one wavelength.
Denver’s offense looks like an unstoppable machine, not because the team will score every possession, but because a good shot or mismatch will be created every time down, built on the never-ending handoff and pick-and-roll decision-making initiated by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray creating good looks for all every play.
With Phoenix switching everything on defense, Gordon and Porter gain instant mismatches posting up tinier guards CP3/Booker/Okogie, while Jamal draws the lumbering Ayton on the perimeter. Backup five AG as the post-up playmaking hub when Jokic sits works well enough against second units for the offense to surivive.
Here’s Gordon contesting Durant and Booker into tough missed shots
Aaron Gordon thrives in any off-ball play-finishing role slashing, cutting, and attacking the rack on fast breaks, a transition killer off forced turnovers, a high-flying rim-roller who can stop, seal, and deliver over any mismatch in the paint.
Heckuva baseline drive and no-look dumpoff pocket pass on the closeout attack by KCP on the third play here:
Denver’s tall wings create mismatches when opposing teams switch on defense.
Porter and Gordon took advantage of their size and skill in the post all series against Phoenix.
Gordon’s strength, handles, footwork and soft touch leads to an overpowering force against any smaller foe in the paint.
When Splash Gordon’s catch-and-shoot 3ball is hitting, the Swish Army Knife’s scoring versatility is fully unlocked.
Seeing a few shots go through the net gives the 35% 3pt shooter confidence from deep, makes defenders feel like they need to close out harder, and opens up driving lanes to counter with a dribble drive attack.
AG will spin, swim move, and slam on a moment’s notice.
Air Gordon’s explosion doesn’t just make for memorable dunk contests.
The People’s Champ flies through traffic to snatch the offensive board, gathers with a power dribble under the rim, and bursts back up on the second jump to go up strong and hopefully draw the foul.
If he misses the first attempt, he’ll try to beat everyone to the boards to putback his own miss using his elite second jump burst.
Game 2
Aaron Gordon’s most impressive defensive performance of the playoff run could be Game 2 of the Denver-Phoenix Series.
Holding Kevin Durant to 3/13 from the field, two turnovers, and one block when directly matched up, throwing in another block on Booker for good measure, AG was locked in from the start to his lockdown star-stopping role.
Making the game even slightly more difficult for opposing stars makes a huge impact. No single defender can normally stop the Durants and Kawhis of the world; making them work harder than normal without sending a double gives the defense a better chance to win by playing straight up.
The Nuggets feasting on fast breaks off forced turnovers wasn’t a blip; its a major key to their success.
Whether Air Gordon strips the ball on a dig, intercepts a pass, or contests a jumper before taking off as an outlet on the wing, AG threatens to flash to the rack at at any moment to throw down a rim-rocking slam.
In Game 2, Gordon helped force two turnovers turned fast break buckets, stole another pass, and dunked home a third fast break off turnover.
Aaron Gordon trading tough shots with the one of the smoothest midrange assassins to ever play, hitting post-up fadeaways over Kevin Durant in the NBA Playoffs.
While Durant has the height and length advantage, Gordon has the strength and body control to win the possession, to be the low man, to fight for position and finish over, through, and around the tall shot-blocker.
Game 3
Aaron Gordon’s versatile defense overcoming an offensive outpouring from Phoenix.
AG held KD to 6/17 FG at 35% in Game 3, now 9/30 FG against AG since Game 1.
AG traps Booker, resets at the rim, double-hand swats Shamet on the drive
Gordon’s big wing defense sticks tight with Durant, gets underneath him without fouling, pokes shot away for a block and forces bad shot on contest.
JJ Redick on Gordon’s new role, “not only did he embrace it, he starred in it.”
Gordon stays making winning plays whether he gets credited or not. Throughout the playoffs, AG will linger on the baselines to disrupt passes to the ball-handler, forcing turnovers and deflecting loose balls.
Being a capable three-level scorer makes Gordon a threat to shoot from anywhere on the floor. There’s a difference between defenses forcing a non-scorer to score and leaving a willing shooter open when he’s in rhythm during a hot streak.
The pick-and-pop with Jokic leaves AG space for an elbow jumper, a quick transition seal on Booker leads to a postup mismatch slam off clean footwork, and strong position plus bounce crashing the glass leads to a one-handed putback:
Game 4
Some nights, good defense can only do so much against better offense. Durant and Booker couldn’t miss, combining for 25 PTS when matched up against Gordon and 72 PTS on 37 FGA against all of Denver’s defenders.
AG’s effort stayed consistent throughout the game, seen here recovering, guarding, and contesting KD on the baseline pump-fake pull-up middy
On the offensive end, AG stays showing off the scoring versatility:
1 relocation corner three after threatening the closeout attack with the pivot
1 transition seal spinning finish past a post-up mismatch
1 middy pull-up fadeaway out of pick-and-pop
1 fast break rack-attack
Aaron Gordon’s huge fourth quarter sequence making winning plays to keep it close:
Contests Kevin Durant at point of attack into tough pull-up jump shot
Hovers in dunker spot for putback tip-in
Fights for loose ball, winning possession after review
Game 5
Aaron Gordon continues to bring night-to-night defensive intensity.
AG holds Durant to 3/11 FG and Booker to 0/3 FG, while helping his team force four turnovers with zero shooting fouls when matched up directly.
Gordon swats Shamet, blocks Booker, contests, traps, and digs at stars without fouling
One of Aaron’s strongest defensive displays of the post-season:
Many forced turnovers lead to lethal fask break bucket opportunities for Denver.
Gordon contests Durant, runs the floor, shows off body control and quick second jump to finish cleanly at the rim.
Aaron hits a post-up fadeaway over the Suns’ center, drills a catch-and-shoot three in transition, and glides to the rim with ease.
Game 6
Air Gordon almost seems to crank up the defensive intensity with each game.
AG holds KD to 4/12 in an elimination game, forcing multiple turnovers in a row.
Getting up under a tall tough shotmaking superstar, hand in face without fouling, throwing in different trap and zone looks, forcing a star to make rapid decision and take tougher shots than they normally take, is all a star-stopping defender can really hope to do.
Asking a player to create from scratch with muddy spacing is different then giving up open looks at every level. AG rises and fires for the middy pull-up
Takes mismatch to the rack with the mean ISO crossover drive in semi-transition. Gordon remains a monster mismatch-hunter in the paint.
The Aaron Gordon Dunker Spot Floater/Lob Alley-Oop Special off Jamal-Jokic P&R:
Defense traps Jamal, leaves Jokic with the ball at the elbow in 4-on-3. Good night.
Western Conference Finals
Nuggets vs. Lakers
(4-0)
"Ignorance is bliss"
Game 1
A play-finishing outlet on the break with body and ball control to finesse around and finish through bump-and-run contact.
Gordon shot 0/3 from deep, but found ways to affect the game in ways that he does best: make life difficult for the other team’s best player (this time, LeBron) and finish every off-ball cut and high-flying highlight alley-oop lob Jokic and Jamal throw at you.
Aaron Gordon contested and closed out strong on LeBron James on the perimeter, forcing a tough shot here on the drive.
While nearly every player is expected to be an aware rebounder these days, timing up rebounds in traffic is still a skill involving positioning, explosive vertical leap, and the effort, strength, and will-power to beat everybody else to the bounce.
Aaron Gordon crashing the offensive glass alongside the rest of the Nuggets using their length to dominate the boards was key in Denver’s first win, from the opening basket of the game to two key possession-savers to help close in the fourth.
Even with Jokic off the floor, his pass-first style of play is contagious. With Gordon filling in at center, anchoring the second unit, Aaron completes the touch-pass give-and-go back to Bruce Brown off the forced turnover.
Game 2
Aaron Gordon having the quickest second jump in the league means that AG might not beat everyone to the ball on the first tip drill, but he will almost always land, load, and explode back up quicker than anyone else on the second attempt.
AG shows patience, footwork, timing here to pump AD out of his shoes and finish strong.
Air Gordon scoring off energy plays and Jokic gift-wrapped assists as AG attacks the rack on closeouts, cuts to the dunker spot, and adjusts with body control for rim-rocking highlight slams.
Telepathic timing on the first give-and-go play set up by the elbow back screen from Jamal for Jokic, after clearing out that side of the court with Jokic’s baseline screen for Porter and the off-ball dunker spot lurking for easy rising throwdowns.
Tip-drills, slip-screen slams, one-dribble power dunks, constant competitive energy
A deep dive on The Elbow action beating the Lakers in these first few games, with Gordon slipping screens while providing Jamal-Jokic DHO with momentum and spatial position advantages, broken down by @JoeVirayNBA: https://twitter.com/JoeVirayNBA/status/1659967222184546304?s=20
Gordon makes two good passes as primary playmaker with Jokic on the bench, assisting MPJ twice, first on the post-entry against faceup mismatch, then the stagger screen motion triple.
Gordon’s defensive intensity comes in the clutch to contest LeBron’s reverse layup with under 30 seconds to play, blocking Schroder’s drive in the final three minutes, and forcing two bad shots out of Anthony Davis when matched up individually.
Game 3
Aaron gave Rui Hachimura fits in this one, blocking his shot, contesting drives.
In this first set below, Lakers set up Horns with screeeners on both sides of LeBron’s man, threatening rolls and pops on either side. Davis sees the open paint, reads the defense for a scoring opportunity, and slips the screen diving to the rim. Gordon sticks with his man (AD), denying the entry lob pass, facing up AD until he clears the paint. In the next P&R, Denver swarms the ball-handler (LeBron) with trap defense. Gordon keeps one hand on his man while protecting the paint, preparing for the second roller to dive at him, going straight up to reject Rui’s shot in help defense.
On another play, AG sticks with Rui on the drive, contesting a tough layup, before taking off after the miss. Gordon’s patience, footwork, positioning come in handy as AG stops on a dime in transition under the rim, controls ball with gather dribble, reads kick outs drawing defenders, finds balance and power to go up strong in traffic.
Gordon’s only other made field goal this game came on a relocation corner foot-on-the-line C&S jumper off good penetration and ball movement off drives and cuts.
Denver’s P&R defense with Jokic on the bench has Gordon guarding Anthony Davis on the roll, stunting at the ball with a soft show before reverting into drop. Two bad pass turnovers ensue.
Aaron shows his passing abilities as an on-ball decision-making playmaker and team-first cutting connector on multiple possessions:
Beelining to the rim on fast breaks, using downhill force gravity to draw defenders in towards the paint and kick out to open shooters
Fake DHO with Jamal into backdoor cut and beautiful live-dribble dime by AG
Gordon quickly hits the cutting Jokic for a finger roll in semi transiton after the off-ball back-screen for Jamal from Jokic forces switch, allowing Jokic to turn around and roll through open paint with Jamal’s man (LeBron) on his back
AD fronts Jokic, AG makes the defense pay with the post-entry lob pass over top
Nice vision, tight handle, good feel here by Gordon to pull a Steve Nash, driving baseline through the paint, surveying the floor for the open shooter to kick out to.
Game 4
Aaron Gordon in a closeout game to potentially sweep LeBron’s and AD’s Lakers, win the West, and make the first NBA Finals appearance in Denver Nuggets history:
22 PTS - 6 REB - 5 AST - 2 BLK
9/14 FG - 3/5 3P - 72% TS%
Air Gordon’s vertical gravity leaves defenses in turbulence.
AG’s frenetic energy crashing the glass like a human jumping bean is a scoring force of its own. Whether the rebound goes in on the putback, is tipped to a teammate, or leads to a fast break, points are being generated directly from these effort plays.
Gordon’s brute strength, quick bounce explosiveness, absurd vertical leap, reliable hands, sound footwork, good timing, and spatial awareness all add up to a menace to deal with on the glass, under the rim, in the paint.
AG powers through most defenders, speeds past bigger ones, and reaches a higher peak vertically than the most athletic ones, at least on the second and third jump.
In Game 4, Gordon tipped the rebound until Jokic ended up with it on two possessions, snagged a grab-and-go defensive board into fast break drive-and-kick three to MPJ, puts back one miss, and throws down four dunks off lofty passes from teammates, featuring telepathic handoff give-and-go off-ball cut alley-oop slams.
That’s 17 PTS scored off opportunities created by rebounds, 18 counting the free throw after being fouled while drawing a mismatch in the paint.
Since the defensive intensity, energy, and competitive fire never burns out, Gordon’s game becomes all-around lethal when the outside shot is falling.
Off-ball movement doesn’t just mean staying ready for lobs; AG stays aware of the ball, relocating for corner threes and drifting up to the wing when not cutting.
Threatening the pull-up three, stutter rip fake the drive, alternating between pump-fake and pivot footwork with Carmelo Anthony nodding somewhere off in the distance, Aaron Gordon drags defenders out on closeouts to create advantage for his dribble drive when the deep jump shot is falling.
Making a defender hesitate for a second, consider contesting harder than they should for even a moment, creates the half a step Gordon could need to drive, finish, or kick out pass.
Aaron Gordon’s shooting 41% 3P% from deep on 2.3 3PA through 19 playoff games (4 games into The Finals)
The Lakers’ gameplan seemed to involve letting Aaron shoot; at times, Gordon made them pay. Gordon went 0/5 from deep through the first three games of the series, yet knocked down 3/5 when it was time for the knockout punch.
Aaron’s offensive versatility, ball-handling, playmaking helps him initate offense, running handoffs, pick-and-rolls, and patiently waiting on the elbow and wing to hit shooters and cutters as they run open off screens.
In this game, AG runs P&R with Jokic, bouncing the pocket pass to Jokic on the roll against the switch as Jokic traps AD over the top and behind him for an easy bucket.
Later, Gordon acts as the elbow playmaker, hitting Porter on a curl screen, getting it back, and instantly connecting the rock to the wide open Joker.
AG’s finals assist cam on the post-entry swing pass to Jokic with the mismatch in the paint.
LeBron went off in the first quarter for 21 PTS, scoring 31 PTS in the first half. Gordon’s defense became more effective as the game went on, getting more physical, sending more bodies LeBron’s way.
In one possession, AG digs on Rui from the perimeter, closes out to contest LeBron, gets into the body on the drive without fouling, gets a hand up to contests the shot/pass, secures the defensive rebound to finish the winning possession.
Twice when Lakers draw guards on switches for LeBron, Gordon helps anyway stunting towards the ball with slight digs before quickly retreating to contests the shooter; with little off-ball movement, AG’s able to cheat in to help even after being switched off the ball-handler.
AG holds position to force and contest two tough baseline fadeaway jump shots and strips LeBron from behind on a drive after James ignored the screen in P&R.
4 seconds left.
An NBA Finals berth on the line for the defense.
A conference finals elimination game at hand for the offense.
A chance at a game-winning buzzer-beating shot to add to LeBron’s legacy, a potential spark to a 3-0 comeback that NBA script writers couldn’t write up any better.
And Aaron Gordon blocks LeBron James with great help defense from Jamal Murray as time expires to seal the win, sweep the Lakers, win the West, and clinch the Denver Nuggets’ first *NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
“Everybody did a great job shrinking.
Jamal tied him up down low…
I got the block up top.
Ball game.” - Aaron Gordon
The NBA Finals
Nuggets vs. Heat
(4-1)
"There is no spoon."
Game 1
The Transition Seal Post-Up Mismatch Extravaganza
Air Gordon preparing for takeoff, landing in the first quarter of his first NBA Finals:
12 PTS
6/8 FG
4 REB
1 AST
Aaron Gordon came out of the gates swingin’, bursting with energy in every scene.
Transition seals on Strus and Vincent, drawing mismatches deep in paint, runs floor off misses, gains low man post-up position, forces action at rim, crashes glass for offensive boards in traffic with quick bounce, elite second jump, strong focus.
Gains more mismatch advantages against switches when setting screens in Horns, from backscreens to off-ball cutting Jamal to on-ball driving screens for Jokic.
Active hands grabs loose ball off Jokic steal with the quick touch pass back to Joker before buzzer.
Feelin’ good, AG directs the offense, sets misdirections on both sides before faking the handoff, keeping the ball on a drive, eurostepping into a finger-roll.
On the next play, AG sets elbow back/rip screen for Murray dive cut out of Horns, Jokic finds Jamal for the wide open SLAM
AG’s third quarter sequence: contests three shots in a row, blocks one, pushes pace and hits MPJ ahead with the nice pass in transition towards Porter drawing a foul.
Game 2
The Nuggets offense at its peak flows through Jokic at the elbow, looking for the open man, the clearest mismatch, the best shot for the team.
Jokic elbow ISO dribble towards help-defender, draws double, spins into hook shot alley oop pass to AG on baseline cutting slam?!
The Jokic short-roll touch pass to Gordon in the dunker spot after Jamal draws two trapping defenders in P&R never gets old. Nikola’s vision, feel, timing on full display.
Bam stuck in P&R front on Jokic; Love caught between two defenders; KCP drives baseline and lofts open alley oop to Aaron.
A confident shooting Splash Gordon addresses an attackable hole, reaching the 35% mark from deep now that more of his triples are open catch-and-shoot looks.
Incredible lateral quickness change of direction by Aaron Gordon to plant on the elbow, reverse momentum back towards proteecting the rim, and make the leaping block that led to points off the turnover with the Jeff Green jumper.
Aaron Gordon’s anchoring second units and defensive versatility on display switching between Bam and Butler
Aaron Gordon making winning team-first plays, flashing the quick bounce sacrificing his body leaping for the offensive board saving the ball with the loose ball dive and pass to Jokic on the fall.
Game 3
Gordon explodes through traffic for 10 big boards in a nuclear rebounding game for the Nuggets, as Jamal and Jokic make history with the first pair of 30pt triple doubles in an NBA Finals game.
Nikola Jokic drops the first 30PTS - 20REB - 10AST game ever in The Finals.
That’s 40 rebounds for 3 players in an NBA Finals game on the road
With Porter snagging seven boards, Denver’s dominant advantage in size, height, length, and combined rebounding skill, timing, effort has never been more on display.
The Nuggets outrebounded the Heat 55-33 on Miami’s home court, the biggest team rebounding advantage in an NBA Finals game in more than fifty years.
Gordon made an effort to push the pace off defensive rebounds and crash the offensive glass with his elite second jump, explosive effort, and quick bounce.
Right after Mike Breen makes the shout out to Tim Kennedy, Gordon’s high school coach, Aaron makes a highlight coast-to-coast patented play.
AG’s two-way versatility and grab-and-go downhill force shown in one sequence: Stops Jimmy Butler on the drive, fights through screen, contests shot without fouling, grabs the board, brings ball up, pushes the pace, accelerates through traffic, and Air Gordon enters the spiderverse with one of his powerful two-handed spiderman slams.
One of AG’s most versatile defensive outings of the entire Finals run, NBA Stats tracked Aaron defending seven different players who attempted shots on him, holding all individual opponent matchups to 3/13 from the field while recording zero shooting fouls, with Jimmy going 2/5 FG and 0/1 AST/TO with Gordon guarding him.
Gordon continues to make winning effort plays, save loose balls, seal mismatches in the paint and spray out kickouts on drives, looking for open teammates and the best shot for the team, while prioritizing his most important role for this Denver offense as a play-finishing lob threat who stretches the floor with vertical gravity and dunker spot patience on baseline cuts, rim-rolls, and second chance putbacks.
Game 4
The Aaron Gordon Game
AG Leads All Scorers in Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals!
27 PTS - 7 REB - 6 AST - 1 STL
11/15 FG - 3/4 3P - 2/3 FT
The Swish Army knife slices up Miami for 15 PTS in the second quarter!
drilling catch-and-shoot threes
throwing down off-ball cutting slam dunks
threatening to attack closeouts with the shot, dribble drive, or kickout pass
grabbing boards, drawing contact and hitting free throws, bringing elite defense
Hunting mismatches like Gabe Vincent on switches, similar to Game 1 with transition seals in the paint,, backing down from the perimeter, drawing fouls, easy scoring opportunities.
Cutting off ball baseline, from the dunker spot, and through the paint to catch every bullet pass thrown at him, gather with one power dribble, load up, and explode for the play-finishing highlight slams
Hounding the boards for quick bounce putbacks and second jump finishes
Assisting on dimes to cutters and drive-and-kicks to shooters
Defending at an elite level, keeping Jimmy Butler to human levels, chasing around shooters and disrupting driving lanes for all, making the game tough for the Heat as a secondary versatile two-way mismatch in the second quarter and throughout Game 4.
Game 5
The Closeout
An ugly game neither team wanted to win, Gordon dealt with a tough start, racking up two quick fouls and a third before half, forcing a tough shot, losing a turnover.
Gordon didn’t lose his agressive attack mindset, and strong on-ball defense keeping Jimmy Butler to regular season levels on the biggest stage.
In the first quarter, AG flashed his two-way versatility and overall impact as a powerful big wing defender, bouncy rebounder, and pace-pushing deap seal transition trendsetter, creating yet another postup on Gabe Vincent, a blatant mismatch Miami can’t help but accept when using up all the black magic they have left to slow down the Jamal-Jokic show.
Nice defensive job by Aaron Gordon to deter the shot from Jimmy Butler, going under screen on drive, getting hips back onto the ball-handler, while staying straight up without falling for Jimmy’s pump fake.
Gordon and Denver’s defenders being long, tall, and agile enough to check Jimmy without biting on Butler’s patented pump has reduced his ability to get to the line.
In the first quarter, before being benched for foul trouble, drop coverage and Gordon staying up straight and tight on the hip helped force tough midrange floaters and gliding finger rolls that rimmed out. A few questionable calls against AG in this one.
Air Gordon stays boarding in traffic, rebounding and rim-protecting.
Another double dime play by AG the elbow wing facilitator hub
Gordon can be at his best spraying kickouts to shooters, playing connector when surrounded by spacing and off-ball movement.
This time, he turns down a good shot for a great one, twice in one possession.
The EMPHATIC Aaron Gordon Block on Kyle Lowry!
Aaron Gordon’s defense on Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin was frenetic in Game 5, leaving no shot uncontested.
Chasing around both throughout the night, Gordon got his hand up to guard everything. In one play, AG deters one drive, digs at another, and sprints to close out on a three pointer, contesting two more C&S triples and a turnaround fadeaway.
Aaron Gordon stole two errant passes from Caleb Martin, and sent Kyle Lowry’s shot packin’. AG’s emphatic denial on Lowry may have been the play of the game, engulfing the shot and sending it off to Cancun, Aaron again helps seal a series-closeout victory with a huge highlight block.
On his path to the 2011 NBA Championship, Shawn Marion guarded LeBron James while beating the Heat and checked Kevin Durant while knocking out the Thunder.
In Aaron Gordon’s title path twelve years later, AG matched up with LeBron while sweeping the Lakers and locked down Kevin Durant in a shootout with the Suns.
"The Matrix is everywhere.
It is all around us.
Even now in this very room"
Data Sources: Cleaning The Glass, PBP Stats, The BBall Index, Basketball Reference, NBA Stats, Darko App, Dunks and Threes, Synergy Sports
Words and Data Visualizations from @ BeyondTheRK on Twitter / YouTube / Substack