2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[DanSchwartzgan]

Good point.  I went back and looked and it isn't current either.  It is four weeks old.  Interesting to note that the author of the Gordon/Powell piece is Jake Fischer.  Where have we heard that name before?

I still don't get this from the Orlando perspective.  Would Powell be the first C off the bench ahead of Birch?  That isn't clear to me.  I get that Powell could play next to Vuc, but that job eventually belongs to Isaac and Okeke.  So, the need is temporary, yet Powell has two years remaining after this one.

Powell isn't a very good conduit to other Mav assets (like Green).  Expiring Johnson would be better.  To me Johnson and Green makes more sense than Powell and Green if I'm Orlando.  I do see the possibility of eating a year of Aminu as part of the price for Gordon.  But WCS would make more sense than Powell as a way for Orlando to offload Aminu.

I don't want Brunson as the outgoing in a deal for Gordon.  Just creates another hole and I'm not sure Gordon is good enough to warrant losing Brunson.

If Dallas was in conversation with Orlando this summer, it would have been someone plus 18 and 31.  I doubt that someone would have been Powell coming off of injury.  I totally get Powell being the outgoing from the Dallas perspective.  I'm just not buying it from the Orlando perspective.

Moving this conversation here.  The Orlando beat writer for The Athletic did a player by player piece looking at the likelihood of each being traded here:  


https://theathletic.com/2450231/2021/03/...e-preview/


Below is the section on Aaron Gordon.

Aaron Gordon
Age: 25.
Contract status: 2020-21: $18.1 million, 2021-22: $16.4 million.

How he’s played:[b]   [/b]Gordon has had a weird season — a season in which he had to play some point guard following injuries to Fultz, Anthony and Carter-Williams. Gordon’s shooting a career-best 36.5 percent from 3-point range, and he’s also averaging career highs of 4.0 assists and 2.7 turnovers per game.
Gordon has missed 17 of Orlando’s last 18 games following a severe left ankle sprain.

Conclusion: Gordon trails Fournier by a small margin as the Magic’s player to watch before the deadline.
There are two factors at work.

First, Gordon is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent during the summer of 2022, so his free-agency clock is starting to tick. Although he’s never expressed dissatisfaction with the Magic, the team’s front office will soon need to explore potential deals to guard against losing him in free agency for no one (or no picks) in return.

Second, Gordon almost certainly would be impacted if the Magic part ways with Fournier. Parting ways with Fournier would leave Orlando without a starting shooting guard. Gordon could be traded for a starting shooting guard.

Gordon’s best position offensively is the power forward spot. But the Magic have two other young players who also are best suited offensively as forwards, Isaac and Chuma Okeke, leaving the Magic with an unbalanced roster. Given the Magic’s recent contract extension for Isaac, it would make a lot of sense to trade Gordon.

My guess is that the Magic will not trade Gordon before this year’s trade deadline and instead would intensify their efforts for a trade during the offseason. But it is possible that a Gordon trade could come sooner than later.