Former Arizona Wildcat Aaron Gordon re-signs with Orlando Magic

NBA free agency can be a crazy this time of year and former Arizona Wildcat standout Aaron Gordon is in the middle of all of it. The Los Angeles Lakers were interested, but AG has signed a deal with the Orlando Magic.

All the talk lately has been where is LeBron James going, and rightly fully so. But there are others whose names are being thrown around during NBA free agency season, which began on July 1st at 12:01 am. One of those names is former Arizona Wildcat freshman sensation, Aaron Gordon.

Gordon is set to enter his fifth NBA season, having played the previous four seasons with the Orlando Magic.

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Since then, Gordon has more than proved his worth for the Magic, demonstrating his ability to attack the rim with thunderous dunks and powerful moves around the block. In his fourth season, he averaged 17.6 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game.

Each season with the Magic his numbers have steadily gone up in nearly every category. Gordon went from 5.2 points per game his rookie year, to averaging is 17.6 points per game this past season. That’s what you call progress!

For his efforts, Gordon had been rumored to be sought by multiple teams (namely the Los Angeles Lakers), but apparently that’s all they were… rumors. On Sunday evening, reports broke that Gordon had re-signed with the Magic on a four-year, 84 million dollar deal with the Orlando Magic. Gordon was a restricted free agent and had options, but perhaps it was the Magic that spoke the loudest.

The possibility of Gordon joining the Lakers, was something he had possibly considered as he could have had the opportunity to play for a NBA championship contender, now that ‘The King’ has reportedly signed a four-year, $154 million deal with the Lakers per Yahoo reports.

Also, he would have been playing for a former Wildcat in Luke Walton. The Bear Down connection!

If it had come down to it, because of restricted free agent guidelines, the Orlando Magic would have been able to match any offer he had received from another team. That offer could have been a max qualifying offer because he stayed with the Magic for four years. Thankfully, it didn’t come down to that and the Magic were able to re-sign AG without any competition.

Heading into the free agency market, Gordon kept an open-mind on what he was going to do next, and this is what he had to say as per The Orlando Sentinel prior to re-signing:

"“Obviously, I’ve got to talk to other teams,” Gordon told the Sentinel. “I’ve got to do the due diligence. But we’ll talk to the Magic, and I do believe that they’re going to offer me something fair. And, hopefully, we can go from there. But I have to do the due diligence and see what’s going to be the best fit for myself.”"

Pretty fair deal, and the Magic certainly saw the worth and value that Gordon brings to the organization now and for the next four years. For the Lakers to express interest in him says a lot, and the Magic organization didn’t want to take any chances in losing their rising star.

If things can’t get any crazier for Gordon right now, he just had his acting debut in the newly released film Uncle Drew, which starred many current and former NBA Players. He played a rival named ‘Casper’ in the film.  Great to see our Wildcats making it big on and off the floor!

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At Zona Zealots, we would like to congratulate Gordon on re-signing with the Orlando Magic. We can’t wait to see what have you in store for Magic fans over the next four years. Bear Down!