The All-Star in the New Season? How strong is Aaron Gordon now?

Preseason, the Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves 116-126.

Although he lost, in this game, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon gave 100% of his performance, shooting 4 of 4 shots, 1 of 1 three-pointers, and scoring 14 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

Because he only played 15 minutes in the half, the data was not particularly dazzling, but in this preseason debut, Gordon still showed a lot of game content, not only could he cut the cake and throw three-pointers at the open space, but he also made fouls and stood on the free throw line many times. The point is that Gordon also showed good ball-holding offensive skills, and used both against Divinchenzo and Shannon Brown Jr. to make full use of his physical advantages to complete the jump shot - the ball played by Shannon Jr. was particularly crazy, and he was completely a superstar.

Of course, this is just a preseason game, but I think Gordon's performance is obvious to all in recent years.

Take last season for example. In the regular season, Gordon only played 51 games due to injury, but in the games he played, he averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Many people know that Jokic made a very amazing three-pointer performance last season, and his shooting percentage was once the league first, but in fact Gordon also delivered the best shooting in his career - averaging 1.5 three-pointers, a shooting percentage of 43.6%, and his free throw shooting percentage was also the highest in his career at 81%, and his real shooting percentage was as high as 65%.

Now Gordon is not only able to eat cake efficiently, but also can hold the ball and attack and consume the ball. Although the three-point output is not high, he has a very good grasp. He is an absolutely qualified third-in-command star.

Moreover, Gordon not only has excellent offense, but also has the best defense ability. He also has the most needed frame protection and misalignment in the front line of today, and can also defend the opponent's offensive vanguard alone. It can be said that he is one of the best offensive and defensive four positions in active service. The point is that Gordon is also a playoff player.

Although the Nuggets were eliminated in the second round in this year's playoffs, Gordon's performance can be said to be very outstanding.

In the first round against the Clippers, Gordon averaged 18.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 51.6%, and a record-breaking all-match buzzer-beating kill in G4. From the later perspective, without this goal, the Nuggets could not even get past the first round. In the second round against the Thunder, Gordon averaged 13.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 44.1%.

He scored 22 points and 14 rebounds in G1 and scored a three-pointer at the last moment;

G4 is Gordon again, scoring 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the game, and scored a tied three-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, G6 Gordon suffered a second-degree hamstring strain. This injury originally took several weeks to recover, but Gordon insisted on playing with an injury and scored 8 points and 11 rebounds.

Although the Nuggets eventually lost to the Thunder, this round of game, Gordon's role can be seen from the naked eye, and the data can also show that:

- When Gordon was on the court, the Nuggets only lost to the Thunder in 2.9 points in 100 rounds

- Gordon was not on the court, and the Nuggets lost to the Thunder in 100 rounds 32.6 points in 100 rounds

It is worth mentioning that in the 2024 playoffs, the Nuggets also lost to the Timberwolves in the second round with excellent score. In that round of game, Gordon's performance was also very outstanding: averaging 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists, a shooting percentage of 63.1%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 58.8%.

is not disrespectful to Murray, but in terms of these two rounds of games - and even in the playoffs in the past two years, Gordon is the second leader in the Nuggets in the actual sense.

Again 2023, Gordon also helped the Nuggets win the championship, and that year he was also at the All-Star level in the regular season.

You can see that Gordon has become the most indispensable part of the Nuggets Jokic system, and the Nuggets management naturally knows this, so in 2024, they reached a three-year, 103 million contract renewal with Gordon two years ahead of schedule.

To be honest, this contract renewal is quite interesting. Gordon first executed the player option of 22.84 million in the last year of the original contract, and then renewed the contract with the Nuggets for 3 years for 103 million, equivalent to 126 million in four years, and the average annual salary is only over 30 million. In today's era, it can almost be said to be a bargain.

At this point, you might as well take a look at the Nuggets' offseason operations.

Nuggets are one of the teams with the biggest changes in the league this summer. They first sent away Mike Porter Jr. and took a first-round pick to get Cameron Johnson, who was an excellent shooter and had certain sub-attack ability.

sent Saric, who was almost air last season, and got Valanciunas. The process was a bit troublesome, but the end result was that the Nuggets successfully found a reliable substitute for Jokic.

Then the Nuggets also signed Bruce Brown, Hardaway Jr., plus the comeback Holmes II, the growing Strausson and Watson, etc. The Nuggets may have the strongest bench depth in the Jokic era.

Obviously, the Nuggets are still the favorite to compete in the Western Conference in the new season. As long as there is a trio of Jokic + Murray + Gordon, they are a strong team that cannot be underestimated in the entire league. Even if they want to cross them in the playoffs, they have to be skinned.

As for Gordon, looking at the past four years, he may be the best signing (trading) for the Nuggets. He will still be a key part of the Nuggets' championship in the new season. In the regular season, if the Nuggets' record is good enough, they may have the chance to see him be selected as the All-Star.