Is Aaron Gordon a long-term fit for Denver?

Aaron Gordon was brought in as a complementary piece to Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr., but a bigger role this year proved he might not be a long-term fit.

With their 2021/2022 NBA season for the Denver Nuggets coming to a disappointing conclusion following a five-game, first-round series loss against the Golden State Warriors, the Nuggets will have difficult questions to answer during the upcoming summer.

The most prevalent of those questions moving forward is, how does Denver maximize Nikola Jokic's prime and not waste it like the prior two seasons have ended up becoming following injuries to the highly paid duo of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr?

It is unfortunate to consider, especially when you think about the fact that Murray and Porter's salaries eat up one-third of the Nuggets' salary cap, but Denver is currently $60 million over the luxury tax, and Porter's ongoing back issues combined with Murray's now noticeably long recovery time needed from returning from an ACL tear paint a picture that at this point, neither can be counted on by Denver to play up to their potential.

With Jokic all-but-assured to win his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player this season, the Nuggets probably thought that one of the ensembles consisting of Aaron Gordon, Monte Morris, and Will Barton could step up and provide Jokic with a consistent above-average complementary scorer, but all three proved more than ever this season that they are all merely role players and nothing more.

While Morris and Barton being role players would not surprise anyone, the cat is really out of the bag now for Aaron Gordon on what he is and what he can be as an offensive player moving forward.

For the 2021/2022 regular season, Gordon averaged 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists per game while shooting splits of 60/33/73 from the field. Gordon also showcases respectable advanced stats with a 60% true shooting %, a 31% three-point rate (slightly below Gordon's career average of a 32% three-point rate), and a 27.6% free-throw rate %.

While the 60% shooting from two-point range and 57.5% EFG% are solid on the surface, Gordon's inability to ever develop a consistent three-point shot, in addition to Gordon's mediocre free-throw shooting limit Gordon's potential from being able to develop as an offensive player.

There's a reason why Gordon's never crossed a threshold of averaging more than 17 points per game in a season during his 10-year NBA career.

It's not just Gordon's three-point shooting that is a problem. Outside of Gordon's 75% shooting % at the rim, Gordon shot just 31% this season on shots between 4-14 ft from the basket, 39% on shots between 14 ft and the three-point line, and 34% overall on all midrange shots.

The calling cards for Gordon since he's come into the league have always been Gordon's ability to grab offensive rebounds and not commit stupid fouls on defense.

Gordon ranked in the 91st percentile for foul % given on defense per Cleaning the Glass this season and in the 85th percentile for offensive rebound % on rebounds off misses from Gordon's Nuggets' teammates.

However, as is always the story with Aaron Gordon, his inability to do more on the offensive end than use his size/strength to score a few baskets around the rim will always limit his effectiveness as a dependable player for a contending team.

With Gordon being a free agent this summer, one has to think that Denver is better off saving their money and spending it on someone who can offer more to the Nuggets while their title contention window is still open.