Aaron Gordon
Aaron Gordon is Denver's starting power forward next to Nikola Jokic. His season depends mostly on whether he stays healthy, because his role looks settled.
Role
He started Denver's season opener against the Thunder. Lineups.com shows 29 minutes, 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 3 of 4 from three and 6 rebounds in that game. He started again in the second game, Saturday against the Pelicans, with rookie Bryce Hopkins filling in for the injured Cameron Johnson (Yahoo and SI, about a day old). Murray, Braun and Jokic started alongside him. A Rolling Out preview listed DeMar DeRozan at forward instead of Hopkins, but that was a projection and the team's announced lineup is the better source. Competition for his minutes is not described in anything I read. The fetched pages did not give a usage rate. Last season he played 2 games for 132 total minutes, which is not a usable sample.
Gordon looked healthy all preseason and opened with a 20-point game. Coverage describes a growing three-point attempt rate and calls him a premium role player. A Yahoo piece also says the coach could use him as a point forward against the Thunder. Denver's starting five went 18-5 last season when fully healthy, and SI says the defense should improve if Gordon and Braun stay on the floor.
Durability is the concern. Yahoo says injuries limited him to 36 games the previous season, and SI makes its projection conditional on him playing more than 40 games. Another outlet described him as Denver's only three-point threat after Johnson left the Thunder game, which suggests his offensive load could rise or he could be asked to carry more than usual when teammates are out. The wire note also has him resting for the preseason finale, though that is a preseason item and I found no regular-season rest plan.
Where analysts split
Broad agreement on the role: nothing I found disputes Gordon as a starter. The open question is health. Analysts hedge on whether he can stay on the floor, and some wonder whether DeRozan could take a starting turn later. A smaller question is how often Denver uses him as a facilitator.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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