if aaron gordon pans out he becomes joakim noah tweener version. awful offensively, but continues to develop playmaking/passing ability. and always solid on D. noah wasn't known for his passing ability. not at all. actually he was awful at it. but he worked on it and it became his forte. why? because he knows he can't shoot. he needs to pass the ball or it's a brick waiting to happen. he knew it from the start. funky shooting motion, never had consistent post up game. in his case, he isn't even athletic enough to attempt any kind of maneuver that resembles a post move. but 7 years later, he is a corner stone of a blue collar team chicago, and now considered top 3 center if not the best.
he is now a face of franchise. even if d rose comes back fully healthy, noah will always be one of the face of the franchise. is he putting up monster numbers? no. like ben wallace back in the day with pistons, noah is doing it from defensive end. and now that he is making plays with his passing. 7 triple double this year. that's remarkable. he is seeing the court. he worked himself to a good passer.
when you look at gordon, i see alot of joakim noah similarity when he was winning championships for florida. intense competitor, limited offense, but you can see that intangible just by watching him few possessions. i think gordon will be one of those 12/7/5 type guy down the road, but brings that great intensity and intangibles. and he is no slouch in athleticism, so he will have his espn top 10 moments.
i don't think gordon will be an offensive force. some dudes never develop offense. they just don't have it. but if he can really become that guy who can change the mentality of the franchise, brings people to watch him play defense, then i would absolutely take him at #8.