Are people calling MKG a foregone conclusion? He's 20.
Not the biggest fan of drafting Gordon but I wouldn't hate it that much, personally.
The biggest problem with MKG is the same problem that exists with Gordon, Both are awful shooters with limited range. Now everyone will tell you that shot form can be fixed and that people can get better at shooting and point out players like Magic Johnson and Jason Kidd as prime examples. But they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Mostly, players that come into the League as bad shooters stay bad shooters. I am not sure there is even a historic example of a player that was such a bad shooter in college that he could only shoot free throws at a 42% rate that then came to the NBA and became even a mediocre shooter.
So with MKG shooting so poorly from range and from the line his first two seasons, the likelihood of him improving is probably extremely low and given the similarities in scouting reports on the two players before they got to the League its most likely Gordon won't be improving that much either. Its just not a common occurrence for a horrible college shooter to come to the NBA and suddenly become good at shooting. It doesn't happen very often. It does happen but its mostly the rare exception and it happens over a long period of time. Expecting MKG or Gordon to be good shooters any time in the next 5-6 years is probably just wishful thinking.
I largely agree with you, though Gordon's age (youngest player in the draft) and reported work ethic increase his likelihood of improvement. In addition, he did shoot 35% from the 3pt line, albeit on 1.2 attempts per game. Taking this into account along with his size, athleticism, underrated handling, very good passing and excellent defense, I think he's a decent pick at #6 but it isn't the optimal scenario in my eyes:
Best: Trade down for Saric (8-12)
2nd Best: Draft Smart at #6
3rd Best: Draft Gordon at #6
