DENVER ACQUIRES AARON GORDON AND GARY CLARK FROM ORLANDO
Denver, Mar. 25, 2021 – The Denver Nuggets have acquired forwards Aaron Gordon and Gary Clark from Orlando in exchange for guards Gary Harris and RJ Hampton and a future first round pick, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Gordon, 25, was selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft by the Magic after spending one season at the University of Arizona. He spent the first seven years of his career in Orlando averaging 12.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 428 games (339 starts). He has appeared in 25 games this season (all starts), averaging 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting a career-high 37.5% from three, joining new teammate Nikola Jokić as one of just 16 players to average over 14 points, six rebounds and four assists this season.
Gordon, 6-8, 235, enjoyed his best statistical season in 2017-18 when he posted career-highs of 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds to go with 2.3 assists per game and 1.00 steals per game. The San Jose, California native followed up that campaign by averaging 16.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 78 games (all starts) while leading the Magic to their lone playoff appearance in his time there. Gordon averaged 15.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 rebounds in five career playoff games.
Clark, 26 years-old, 6-6, 225, has appeared in 35 games (11 starts) for Orlando this season, averaging 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.2 minutes. Clark went undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft after spending four years at the University of Cincinnati. Clark signed a two-way contract with Houston in 2018 and then signed a two-way contract with Orlando in 2020 before it was converted and he was signed for the remainder of the season and then to a multi-year contract in Nov. 2020. He has appeared in 128 career games (18 starts) over three seasons with Houston and Orlando.
Harris, 26, was drafted with the 19th overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft out of Michigan State University and was acquired by Denver in a draft-night trade with Chicago. Harris was currently the Nuggets’ longest tenured player, appearing in 387 games (325 starts) over seven seasons with Denver, posting averages of 12.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.20 steals in 29.1 minutes per game. He appeared in 19 games (19 starts) this season, averaging 9.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30.6 minutes per game.
Hampton, 20, appeared in 25 games for Denver this season, averaging 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per game. The rookie guard was acquired by Denver on draft-night as part of a four-team trade with Milwaukee, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. He was selected with the 24th overall pick after spending the previous season playing professionally for New Zealand in the Australian NBL.
