He's widely expected to be their starting SF this season.
Here you go LB, like I said, he'll only play the position out of necessity. These are some key point from Lowe's article today
"If Serge Ibaka weren't here, Aaron Gordon would be my power forward," Vogel said. "But Serge is here. Aaron is going to be playing [small forward].
The notion of Gordon as primarily a wing is almost shocking, and a massive organizational risk. He can't shoot (yet), and he has very little NBA-level experience as a primary ball handler.
Gordon's limitations on offense didn't matter as much when he played power forward, with three perimeter guys around him.
There are people within the team who think that by midseason, it will be clear Orlando's best lineups feature Gordon at power forward and Ibaka at center -- sort of a problem given the $30 million per year invested in Vucevic and Biyombo.
Meanwhile, groups lumping Gordon alongside two traditional bigs and Elfrid Payton, perhaps an even worse shooter than Gordon, could barf up bricks as defenses strangle the lane.
So Ed, is your theory that after determining that their best lineup involves Gordon starting at power forward, they'd decide to trade Gordon for a weaker player with less potential?
At that point, wouldn't it make more sense to trade Vucevic for a Small forward?
As usual, you're missing the point and changing the basis of the primary discussion we were having. To recap, you said that Gordon is a SF, something I disputed. In turn, I provided evidence that he was used the majority of the time as a PF during his first two seasons. Now you have Vogel saying that if it weren't for Ibaka on the team, Gordon would indeed be playing 4. Doesn't that indicate that the coach believes his best position is the 4?
As for Gordon vs Brown, I don't think Brown is the better player today, but that has more to do with experience (this being Gordon's 3rd year in the league) than it does talent. Just like I don't think Simmons is better than Crowder today, but recognize the higher ceiling. I do think Brown has the greater potential, though. He has shown an explosive first step, better footwork, good handle, more offensive aggression, a much more sound shooting stroke, and a knack for getting to the line. He's more of a natural scorer, while Gordon is more of a role player type that could end of having a Marion type of impact if he improves his perimeter shooting. However,
much like Marion who despite his athleticism only attempted 2.5 FTA for his career, Gordon also doesn't get to the line much (1.3 and 2.5 FTA's in his first two years). However,
unlike Marion who was actually a very good FT shooter (career 81%), Gordon is pretty bad, regressing to 66% last season.