Aaron Gordon: What happens when teams dare you to shoot?
There aren’t many clear weaknesses for the Nuggets offense and opponents will largely have to pick their poison when trying to defend this team. But one area that’s been a bit concerning has been the three-point shooting of Aaron Gordon.
Gordon has never been a great shooter, but he’s been able to hit the open ones and good enough to keep defenses honest. In his first two full seasons with Denver, Gordon shot 34% and 35% from distance, but this season he’s all the way down at 29%.
At some point, a team is going to put their best rim protector on Gordon and have that defender roam around, defending the basket and helping on guys like Jokic and Murray. That will create a lot of open space for Gordon, especially on the perimeter.
He’ll be afforded open three-point looks and he’ll have to confidently take and make them. He can’t become passive or indecisive with the ball or the defense is gaining an advantage. If they can neutralize Gordon they can try to play 5-on-4, which would obviously spell trouble for the Nuggets.
Gordon is a great player, and he’ll play out of the dunker spot as much as possible - where he’s thrived. But it will be interesting to see what happens if a team can turn him into a jump shooter.