With his exceptional handle in the halfcourt (although far stronger with the right), Eric Gordon generates separation from his defender and  is particularly infatuated with the step back 3-point jumper.  

His jumper is world class for a player of his age: It is very fluid, his release is high, quick, and compact.  His range extends to about 25-feet although he is streaky and overly ambitious with it; his accuracy decreases quickly the deeper he goes even though he is capable of it.  His mid-range shot is not as pure as his perimeter shot, revealing an all too common lack of attention to shooting between 10 and 18 feet out.

He does like driving all the way to the basket when defenders try to take away his jumper.  He gets deep into the paint after shaking defenders with remarkable change of pace moves, invites and generates contact, and is strong enough to finish despite a hard foul.  He is a far more effective at penetration when he is using a change of pace dribble instead of when he puts his head down and tries to out-physical defenders.  

But he is strong and agile and has the ability to contort his body to get his shot off although he is not that agile horizontally in the air; he is unable to slip between two defenders the way a Russell Westbrook does, instead trying to plow through them and draw contact.

Gordon likes to do that Marbury elevation move into contact in the paint.  He pushes his initial dribble out ahead of him when he sees an opening.

He has a high turnover rate, but many of the said turnovers are a result of high degree of difficulty passes which should be caught by higher caliber teammates.  While maintaining the dribble, Gordon has exhibited excellent vision for knowing where everyone on the floor is stationed.  Although he doesn't have the passing abilities of a true point guard, he has shown glimpses of strong promise in this area.  He makes solid overhead passes and likes to find cutters when he comes off a pick and roll.

When he doesn?t have the ball, Gordon is sometimes a little too idle and stationary.  He could get a few more open looks per game if he worked harder to move without the ball.  Gordon is so adept at creating his own shot that he hasn?t really needed help in getting them, so this is pardonable for now but is a facet of his game that he eventually will need to address.

Defensively, like many young players of his caliber (O.J. Mayo is another one), Gordon is far better as an on-ball defender than he is off-ball. He possesses very good lateral quickness and anticipation for the passing lanes, but his positioning to help defend needs work.

Despite his strength, Gordon hasn?t shown the desire to be an above-average rebounder.  He is mostly content to rebound when it comes to him instead of hustling after balls.  

His height and weight are two issues that will plague him and slightly limit his ceiling.  He is too short to be a true shooting guard, and Gordon fully realizes he will have to develop into a point guard at the NBA level.  Scoring guards of his height like Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, and Ben Gordon are all athletically superior to Gordon although like a Carmelo Anthony, he is exceptionally ?basketball athletic? especially with the ball.  

He can get into the lane and dunk in traffic when he gets a seam, but I don?t see it being an option long-term.

Ultimately, the imperative for Gordon?s career (and draft value) will be if he can consistently score against long NBA defenders and if he can develop into a point guard.

He is a better perimeter shooter than any of the players mentioned above when they were 19, and his amazing ability to create off the dribble will open enough shots; however, to become a 20+ ppg scorer, he really must learn to let others produce for him, as well.

Gordon has a really good on court demeanor and is tremendously coachable.

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Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.  He can be reached at [email protected] where he may use your draft questions in a future mailbag edition