Ben Gordon became odd man out after Magic coaching change
When the Orlando Magic almost erased a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit in their home opener against the Washington Wizards, it was shooting guard Ben Gordon who led the comeback in a reserve role.
As the late New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel used to say, you can look it up.
Unfortunately for Gordon, you had to look pretty hard to find him anywhere but on the bench over the last two months of the season. With interim coach James Borrego wanting to give both Victor Oladipo and rookie Elfrid Payton as much playing time together as possible, Gordon became the odd man out among the three over-30 guards the Magic added to their roster last summer.
Willie Green became more of a fixture in the rotation after Borrego replaced the fired Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 5. Luke Ridnour was also a frequent contributor off the bench until April. But Gordon, who turned 32 on April 4, played in only four of the final 17 games.
An NBA Sixth Man of the Year as a rookie with the Chicago Bulls, Gordon was at a career crossroads when he was released toward the end of the 2013-14 season by the Charlotte Bobcats. The Magic seemed like a logical fit for someone who made 1,136 3-point field goals during his first 10 seasons, particularly after the team had gotten rid of both Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo around the time of the draft.
"That's one of the reasons they brought me here, to add some shooting and some scoring," Gordon said after the loss to the Wizards in which he scored 11 of his 22 points in the final 12 minutes. "I'm just going to try to do that to the best of my ability. I'm just here to help my teammates."
Before Vaughn was let go during a 10-game losing streak, Gordon had played in 46 of 52 contests and averaged 6.4 points in 14.7 minutes off the bench. He saw action in only 10 of 30 games under Borrego, playing more than 14 minutes just twice and scoring in double figures just three times.
One reason for Gordon's activity early in the season was that Oladipo had yet to return from a facial fracture suffered in late October. But Gordon did not play at all at New York on Nov. 12 while Oladipo was still unavailable as Vaughn relied on Evan Fournier, who scored a career-high 28 points in the 97-95 win.
WHAT HE DID RIGHT
Of the 17 games in which Gordon scored in double figures, more than half came in Magic victories. He shot 43.7 percent overall, which was an improvement over both of his seasons in Charlotte and the first of his three years with the Detroit Pistons. And while he exuded an air of quiet professionalism, he could be fiery when the situation called for it, as was shown by his ejection in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 31.
WHERE HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE
At this stage of his career, what you see from Gordon is what you're going to get. While he shot 36.1 percent from 3-point range, getting off only 97 attempts in 56 games does not seem like an adequate utilization of him.
BEST GAME
Nov. 21 at Charlotte. While his 22 points in the home opener remained his season high, Gordon was a key component in the third-biggest comeback in franchise history. Down by as many as 23 in the third quarter, Gordon scored 11 points over the final 15 minutes as the Magic rallied for a 105-100 victory over his former team. Gordon had a plus-minus rating of +27 while in the game and was part of the Magic's 41-point fourth quarter, which turned out to be their highest-scoring period all season.
ADVANCED STATS
10.6 player efficiency rating (based on 15.0 league average), 53.8 true shooting percentage (accounting for free throws and 3-pointers), 21.8 usage rate (possessions used per 40 minutes).
LOOKING AHEAD
Other than Oladipo and Channing Frye, Gordon was the highest-paid member of the Magic at $4.5 million. The team has the option to pick up the second year of his contract at the same salary.
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
