A couple of days ago, Aaron Gordon stole all the headlines because of his desire to leave the Orlando Magic. That news wasn’t shocking considering he’s been on the trade blocks for several seasons, but the fact that he formally requested to get out is a clear sign of frustration.
So, following yet another loss, the young power forward tried to clear the air on his situation and explain why he wants to get out of the team, claiming that he’s just tired of losing so much and the way they’ve handled his injuries:
“There’s been times where I just expressed my frustration to management — frustration with the losses, the injuries …the way we’ve been playing, how we’ve been playing and how many losses have accumulated over the years. You know, it’s just my frustration kind of boiling over, I would say. I think a lot of people share that sentiment with me of frustration,” Gordon said after the game, as quoted by Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
(2/2) Gordon, cont'd: "… the way we’ve been playing, how we’ve been playing and how many losses have accumulated over the years. You know, it’s just my frustration kind of boiling over, I would say. I think a lot of people share that sentiment with me of frustration.”
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) March 24, 2021
The knock on trading for Gordon could be his long history with injuries but, to be honest, if the Magic were contending for the playoffs, he’d likely played through injuries more often than not. The truth is that there wasn’t much of a point risking his health for a losing team.
Gordon is a high-flying player who has never had the chance to play with a true playmaker, a guy who can get him the ball in a position to succeed. He’s still pretty young and has shown flashes of being a great two-way player, so he’s definitely worth the risk.