Report: Aaron Gordon sent to the Denver Nuggets

The Orlando Magic have been dismantled.

We entered the day wondering which members of Orlando’s longtime core of Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon would be dealt at the trade deadline. Turned out to be all three of them, and the Magic probably aren’t done yet.

Gordon reportedly was sent to Denver in what was the Magic’s third trade of the day — following Vucevic being sent to Chicago along with Al-Farouq Aminu, and Evan Fournier being sent to Boston.

Gary Clark is also headed to Denver in the deal, per Woj.

In return, the Magic get Gary Harris, RJ Hampton and a first-round pick. Harris, who has been out since mid-February with a thigh strain, has spent his entire seven-year career in Denver, averaging 12.0 points per game while shooting 35.9 percent from three. This season he is averaging 9.0 points and shooting just 32 percent from three, both of which are his lowest since his rookie year.

Hampton, the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft, has played sparingly in his rookie season. Our Aaron Goldstone wrote a detailed scouting report on Hampton ahead of the draft.

Gordon, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft, was one of the earliest pieces of the Magic’s initial rebuild. He never quite became the player he was expected to be, through what is a combination of his fault and the Magic’s.

Gordon, still just 25 years old and set time make $16.4 million next season in the final year of his deal, requested a trade in February.

Gordon easily could evolve into an All-Star caliber player while playing in the right role on a Nuggets team that could make a deep postseason run. For a Magic fan base that has already watched Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris thrive after being dealt by Orlando, it is a frightening proposition.

But Gordon was never surrounded by the right players with the Magic, with the front office drafting and extending comparable frontcourt players, and he never fully evolved as a player to meet his full potential.

He very well may do that elsewhere.

Updates coming soon...