Evolving in the Matrix: Aaron Gordon Should Follow the Shawn Marion Blueprint

"[It represents] how wide I want the fans' eyes to be," Aaron Gordon told Fox Sports Florida's Ken Hornack after the first game of his rookie season, referring to his "00" jersey number with the Orlando Magic.

Those eyes are only going to grow wider if he follows in the footsteps of a certain four-time All-Star who now serves as a great model for this talented teenager's development.

Gordon has never been the most traditional top-level NBA prospect, relying more on his defensive chops and ability to shift from one position to another as he attempts to cement his lofty stock with the Magic. But his unorthodox nature doesn't prevent him from having role models in that all-important quest for legitimacy. 

Throughout the history of this league, plenty of players have stood out for their versatility on the defensive end, the limited early nature of their jumpers at the beginning and their undying levels of energy. Still, Shawn Marion reigns supreme as the premier example of how Gordon can maximize his success. 

Most famous for his time as a key player on the run-and-gun Phoenix Suns of the mid-2000s, Marion isn't a lock for the Hall of Fame. That much needs to be clear right away, as we're not exactly claiming Gordon is a lock for enshrinement in about two decades.

Before settling into a lesser role later in his career and winning a ring with the Dallas Mavericks while taking a back seat to Dirk Nowitzki, Marion thrived as a fantasy-basketball stalwart while dwelling in the desert. He captured the world's attention with his incredibly unique style of play and even more distinct jumper, filling up box scores and proving just how valuable an NBA player could be even without scoring points in bunches.

Now, even though he's by no means a lock for induction into Springfield after playing his last game for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he should certainly receive strong, legitimate consideration. Grantland's Zach Lowe expects him to serve as an interesting case study:

"I'm not in control of that [a Hall of Fame selection], but I think my numbers speak for themselves," the forward said, via Cleveland.com's Chris Haynes, upon announcing he'd retire at the end of the 2014-15 season. "What I've done on this court in the last 16 years at my position, I don't think nobody has ever done it the way I've done it."

Nobody has, even if players such as Andrei Kirilenko have come close.

Now, Gordon can change that.

He has a long way to go before matching a player who once found himself near the top of his sport and now has a legitimate shot at induction into the game's most exclusive club. But following such a career trajectory is possible.

That, in and of itself, is a rather large compliment. 

An Easy Comparison Coming out of College

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This isn't the first time the two forwards have been pitted against one another. When Gordon was coming out of Arizona prior to the 2014 NBA draft, Marion served as one of the primary comparisons for many of the reasons already discussed. 

"The Matrix doesn't have outstanding shot-creating or shot-making skills, but his awareness as a mover and passer puts him in good situations, and his explosiveness around the rim earns piles of rebounds," Bleacher Report's Daniel O'Brien wrote while calling the potential Hall of Famer Gordon's best-case scenario. "It's the same kind of nightly contributions Gordon could make if he finds his niche during his prime."

When Grantland's Ryen Russillo probed the minds of multiple anonymous scouts, two brought up Marion as a Gordon comparison before mentioning the names of any other NBA players who could serve as legitimate litmus tests. They weren't the only ones. 

Gordon's career as a member of the Wildcats was rather short. He spent only one season playing collegiate ball before throwing his name into the NBA draft, but it didn't take long for him to leave an impression. Prominent reporters mentioned him and Marion in conjunction for a rather lengthy period. 

Right at the beginning of the prospect's time in Tucson, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein agreed with ESPN.com's Fran Fraschilla:

In January, it was Mike Schmitz, one of the primary scouts for DraftExpress:

Fast-forward to February, and Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix got involved in the festivities:

Of course, there were many others throughout the year; the comparison was well-established already, even if Gordon only had a handful of games in the books against relatively meager competition. 

The two weren't identical players by any stretch of the imagination, but the incoming draft prospect boasted too many of the same tools. His Swiss-army-knife defense, lack of an established position and raw offensive game all couldn't help remind you of a player who once attended UNLV during the 1998-99 season, even if his predecessor was a bigger offensive threat while prowling the NCAA ranks. 

However, the key to Marion's eventual legend wasn't the hype coming out of Las Vegas. Instead, it was his ability to make the most of his physical tools, starting with his defensive prowess, and eventually develop into a two-way highlight-creator. 

Dominant Defense

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Thus far, Gordon has already become a positive contributor to the Magic on the less glamorous end of the floor. He struggled immensely on offense during his 47 games as a rookie, but his defense allowed him to earn playing time as a teenager, especially given the struggles of the many young players around him.

Though he was overmatched at first, he settled in rather nicely by the end of his first professional go-round.

According to 82Games, he held opposing small forwards and power forwards to respective player efficiency ratings of 16.3 and 11.8, neither of which should be looked upon in anything but a favorable light. It's tough to transition from the Pac-12 to the NBA, especially when primarily guarding a position that includes so many versatile offensive studs. 

The footage matches up with Gordon's numbers, showing that he didn't just defend 3s but often switched seamlessly to guard just about every type of player for short bursts. 

Ultimately, no player in the NBA can capably guard anyone for lengthy stretches. For all the fervor about prime LeBron James' ability to slow down 1s and 5s, he was never going to consistently guard an old-school center for anything more than a few possessions. The key is being able to hold your own for a single trip down the floor, and that's what Gordon could do, even as a rookie who missed half the season to a fractured foot. 

"A thirst to defend and jaw-dropping athleticism are two of the qualities that prompted the Magic to defy conventional wisdom and pick Gordon so early in the draft," Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel wrote about the first-round selection in April. "The 6'9" forward is demonstrating the ability to guard point guards, shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards."

Of course, this earned rave reviews from interim head coach James Borrego, who has since been hired as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs:

"

Every good team, every championship team, has that type of player, and Aaron's one of those guys. He absolutely believes he can be a top-level defender, a premier defender—someone we can put on our opponent's best player, whether it's a 1, 2, 3 or 4. And that's realistic for him. That's not us dreaming something up. That's a reality.

"

Sound familiar? It should. 

"I just don't understand how something like that can happen," Marion himself explained during a 2007 profile by ESPN.com's Chris Palmer, referring to his inexplicable exclusion from the All-Defensive teams. "It's one thing to ask a guy to guard another position every now and then, but for a whole season? That is rough. Are they watching the same league?"

Marion was everything Gordon should hope to be on the defensive end, making good use of his length, honing his footwork to the point that he wasted no motion in any matchup and showing off his versatility. He might never have won Defensive Player of the Year and somehow never made an All-Defensive squad but still established himself as one of the most dangerous point-preventing players of the modern era.

That's still not why he's the model for the young Orlando forward's development. Sure, Gordon should spend his free time watching tape of the Matrix locking down opponents, but it's Marion's ability to grow on offense that makes him such a promising example for his new protege. 

The Learning Curve on Offense

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"Shawn Marion will be a rarity in Phoenix—a guy who actually plays defense. Of course, his outside shot is a bit suspect, and that might make him a difficult fit in the Suns' perimeter-based offense," ESPN.com wrote while giving the Suns a B- for their work in the 1999 NBA draft, when Marion was selected at No. 9. 

Offense was a legitimate concern, and the world had no idea this forward would eventually blossom into a player capable of averaging 20.1 points per game during the five-season stretch with Phoenix from 2001-02 through 2005-06. 

After all, how could that possibly be the expectation? 

Even though Marion scored quite often at UNLV, he didn't routinely have plays called for him, and his shooting percentages weren't exactly impressive. Using his unorthodox flicking release, he connected on only 29.9 percent of his three-point attempts and hit his free throws at a 73 percent clip while playing for Bill Bayno. Those numbers—which never projected well for the NBA, especially in light of his unique shooting form—didn't skyrocket once he made it to the next level. 

Below, you can see Marion's three-point percentage as a freshman in college, then during the first few years of his NBA career. But also look at what Gordon has done so far, since he's well ahead of schedule from beyond the arc: 

Though we don't yet have a third data point for Gordon, it doesn't seem like an outlandish assumption that he'll be much better as a sophomore. Not only should the 19-year-old enjoy natural improvement as he works on his craft and settles in as a second-year NBA player, but he looked excellent during the Orlando Summer League, averaging 21.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks while shooting 50 percent from the field. 

Granted, the typical summer-league caveats apply. But Gordon still made plenty of shots, which has to count for something. No matter the setting, it's impressive that a (previously?) limited shooter knocked down six of his 12 attempts from beyond the arc in live action. 

And it wasn't just from the perimeter that Gordon looked more comfortable during those exhibition contests. 

"Shooting the ball infinitely better than this time 12 months ago and light-years ahead of where he was in terms of playing instinctually, Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon has repeatedly looked like the best player in the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League so far," John Denton wrote for NBA.com. 

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Even more improvement is necessary. What makes Marion such an intriguing example for Gordon to follow is the constant work he put into his offensive game, which allowed him to transition from a limited, defense-only prospect to one of the better marksmen in NBA history—a man who could never be left alone in the corners. 

That's not actually an exaggeration. Even while serving as a constant threat to attack the basket on an athletic off-ball cut to the hoop, Marion drilled so many triples during his lengthy professional career that he now stands at No. 123 on the all-time leaderboard. 

Throughout all of NBA history, only 30 different players have suited up in triple-digit contests while averaging at least a single assist, steal and block. That's already an exclusive club, but it gets even more special when offensive production is factored into the criteria. 

Just 16 standouts remain when 15 points per game is set as a cutoff marker, and only two of those players have made more than 30 percent of their career three-point attempts. Marion, as you may have guessed, is one of them: 

One of Gordon's many goals should involve expanding that club's membership to three. 

After all, Marion serves as the perfect example of how he can do it, constantly putting in work to improve his initially flawed jumper while relying on off-ball cuts and hustle plays to make a big offensive impact. And fortunately for the teenage member of the Magic, he has the perfect man in charge to help him fulfill this type of lofty but unorthodox potential. 

Orlando's new head coach for the 2015-16 season is Scott Skiles, the man who was once tasked with turning a certain raw UNLV prospect into a finished NBA product. After serving as an assistant coach with the Suns while Marion was in college, he received a promotion during the forward's rookie season, replacing Danny Ainge as the primary holder of the clipboard. 

Yes, Skiles was the man pacing the sidelines as a rookie head coach when Marion was first breaking into the Association, and he'd stay in the desert for the next three years before departing for the Chicago Bulls. In that time, Marion developed into a deadly offensive force, even averaging 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 39.3 percent from downtown during his final campaign under Skiles. 

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

"I had Danny Ainge first, then Scott Skiles. Both of them played in the league, but both had different styles. Scott Skiles was a perfectionist, and I kinda liked that," the now-retired forward told Cavs.com's Joe Gabriele this January while reflecting on his rookie season. "He demanded that you get better: Go out, play hard and compete. I loved it."

Gordon will experience the same kind of tough love and identical demands of perfection during his first season with Skiles, and he needs to keep following in Marion's footsteps. Accept that need for flawless production. Love the desire for hard work. Thrive off the intensity of practices and games. 

And if Gordon can continue to evolve, Skiles will keep showering him with compliments.

"He played very well, and he's worked a lot on his shot. Obviously, that's getting better," the new Orlando head coach explained about his forward's summer-league showings, via Robbins. "He wants to do well so badly that sometimes he speeds up and gets a little bit out of control, and he's really worked on that. You could see that he really slowed down, particularly early in each of the games he played."

The blueprint is there for this 19-year-old. He already profiles as a strong defender with an expanding offensive game, and now he's receiving the perfect opportunity to continue using Marion's career as a great example. 

Take advantage of it, and his status in the NBA will only continue blossoming. After all, that's exactly what Marion once did. 

All stats, unless otherwise indicated, come from Basketball-Reference.com. 

Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.