One of the goals of the offseason for the Denver Nuggets was to remove some of the pressure off Jamal Murray as the primary ball-handler. When Murray was on the floor, that was his job, and mostly his job only. But the Nuggets have been working on getting others involved in bringing the ball up the floor and getting the offense settled in the half-court offense. Still, it was a surprise when head coach David Adelman said he's considering using Aaron Gordon as the facilitator against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the season opener.
Gordon isn't known as much for his ball control as he is for his dunks and his continuously improving three-point shot. But if the Thunder choose to use Chet Holmgren to defend him, Adelman's going to use Gordon as the point-forward.
"If they choose to play Chet [Holmgren] on Aaron Gordon, we feel like Aaron Gordon can orchestrate the offense. Something we didn't have last year outside of 30 games. So that helps Jamal Murray a lot, you know, get him off the ball," Adelman told the press who had gathered at Nuggets practice.
The Thunder are stout on defense, and the Nuggets will have their hands full, but for any faults fans may want to lay on Adelman, he's an X's and O's guy, so he must have seen something that he thinks will make Gordon work as the "orchestrator" of the offense in this case.
Gordon has been a machine in the preseason
It'll be interesting to see how the Nuggets spread the floor with Gordon playing the role of conductor while "orchestrating the offense," if Holmgren does indeed guard him. Gordon hasn't been featured as the ball handler in the preseason, but he's done just about everything else. Gordon's been a machine to open the year. He was the top scorer for the Nuggets during the preseason, averaging 14.8 points per contest in just 14.9 minutes, which translates to a per 36 minutes of 35.6.
Gordon was on fire from beyond the arc, making 7 of his 13 three-pointers, and he connected on 62.5% of his shots from the field. He looks fresh, explosive, and healthy.
My guess would be that the Nuggets stick Christian Braun in the dunker spot when AG is running the point, and Cam Johnson will be moving without the ball, finding the open spot on the perimeter for a spot-up three, where he's been cooking, too. Johnson was 11-for-22, 50% from three during the preseason.
And if for some reason Gordon struggles in the point-forward role, he should have no issue bullying Holmgren for position in the dunker spot and converting on some easy buckets. Gordon had 23 points and 10 rebounds in his one meeting against the Thunder last season, when he was fresh after just returning from his second long absence.
We'll find out together how this works out. But my hunch is that Gordon will make it work, either way.
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