He’s a marble doorstop chiseled by Michelangelo. A lead guitarist playing bass. A soloist propping up the chorus. Aaron Gordon is an All-Star who dresses up as a “role player” every Halloween. Only his Halloween lasts nine months.
“We have so much talent on the offensive side. I’m not even really worried about it,” Gordon said of his 2025-26 Nuggets, whose regular season tips off Thursday night at Golden State. “… I’m gonna just take what is open for me and do what I can to take the pressure off of us if the game gets stymied.”
All the shots Michael Porter Jr. is about to get with the Nets, all the shots Jerami Grant took in Detroit, AG could make. He could be that guy. These Nuggets are better — almost perfect, in fact — when he doesn’t have to be.
“Really, I’m just worried about defense,” Gordon continued. “I’m gonna just turn up on that end of the floor and let the cards fall where they may after that.”
At 30, Gordon is the Chris Bosh of the Nikola Jokic Era — the glue that binds a dynasty, the friend who comes over, no questions asked, to help carry a baby grand up seven flights of stairs. Doing whatever it takes, wherever it takes him.
In September, that was a tour of Asia. The 6-foot-8 Nuggets enforcer told 361 Degrees recently that he’s feeling “like I’m the best I ever have been (at) basketball.”
Which is music to the ears of Nuggets Nation, and nightmare fuel for the rest of the NBA.
Because when AG sets a target, when he puts peepers on a goal, he rarely misses.
Two summers ago, Gordon made a point to shave the rough edges of his jumper. The end result? A smooth operator with an even smoother release. Last season, the big man set career-bests in 3-point shooting percentage (43.6%) and free-throw conversions (81%).
This summer, with his wonky calf healed, it’s about becoming a defensive stopper again. It’s about the long game — being leaner, meaner, grinding all the way to June.
“Moreso, I worked on my body, because I don’t think I was on the floor enough last year,” Gordon said. “That was the majority of my focus — making sure that I’m ready for the marathon.”
The Nuggets don’t see the finish line — an NBA title, the franchise’s second in four seasons — without a healthy AG raising Cain all the way to the end.
Gordon did more on one healthy leg last winter and spring than most of his peers can manage on two. A gamer to the last, Mr. Nugget cowboyed through the pain in his calf. Yet there also were visible moments where Gordon’s explosion, the hops that spoiled and delighted us, didn’t look the same. For the first time in Denver, AG almost looked his age.
“Yeah, definitely wouldn’t say (this is my) athletic prime,” Gordon quipped. “I was jumping over mascots when I was 22.
“But I think there’s a point where the IQ and your skill set and your athleticism all kind of meet at a certain level. And that’s where I’m at.”
He’s smart enough to know where coach David Adelman needs him most right now — and that’s on the defensive end. The Nuggets have added critical, long-needed pieces on the offensive end: dead-eye shooter Tim Hardaway Jr, do-everything plugger (and old friend) Bruce Brown, a savvy-passing backup big in Jonas Valanciunas. But the enforcing, the stops, the rough stuff, are going to have to have to improve internally.
In ’24-25, Gordon set a career high in offensive efficiency (scoring per 100 possessions) with a 129 rating, per Sports-Reference.com. But his defensive efficiency (points given up on his watch) slipped to a career worst 120 per 100 possessions. Context: His average defensive rating since joining the Nuggets has been around 114 per 100 possessions.
The Nuggets last season finished among the NBA’s worst 10 squads in team defensive efficiency — 115.1 points per 100 opponent possessions, 21st in the league. That was the franchise’s first bottom-10 defensive performance since 2017-18 (23rd). Denver had posted a defense ranked 16th or better for six straight seasons.
“I think if we get to around (the) top 10 defensively,” Gordon noted, “it’s going to put us in a position to win it all.”
Can’t argue that. But AG is the one who’ll have to help set that bar.
“I’m not sure they win that championship if it wasn’t for Aaron Gordon and his defense,” NBC Sports analyst and former NBA great Reggie Miller told The Denver Post.
“And this is a guy who was the man — he was the guy in Orlando and flipped the switch once the trade (to the Nuggets) happened and got into Denver and understood, for them to be successful, he was gonna have to take on a different type of role. And sometimes, it’s been a chameleon-type role.”
Whatever it takes. Wherever it takes him.
As Gordon approached a news conference table during Nuggets media day a few weeks back, Christian Braun was waiting for him. The latter found himself reflecting on his fourth season already in the Mile High City.
“It’s a long time,” Braun said.
Gordon sat down and grinned.
“Try 12,” AG replied.
Time flies when you’re having this much fun. Even if it’s not always flying over mascots anymore.
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