Eric Gordon

[mrblisterdundee]

We've had threads on Russel Westbrook and James Harden going cold on Houston.
But what about Eric Gordon, who's apparently unhappy with his decreasing role since being named Sixth Man of the Year?
Gordon's a tank of a shooting guard at 6'3", 215 pounds who's also an excellent outside shooter and an underrated ball-handler on a fairly cheap deal at $16.8 million a year. He's not physically who he was before all the surgeries. But I feel like he could greatly help any contender as a Sixth Man or even as a starting two-guard.
What sort of assets can Houston get for him? Do you have an ideal landing spot?

[Scoots]

We've had threads on Russel Westbrook and James Harden going cold on Houston.
But what about Eric Gordon, who's apparently unhappy with his decreasing role since being named Sixth Man of the Year?
Gordon's a tank of a shooting guard at 6'3", 215 pounds who's also an excellent outside shooter and an underrated ball-handler on a fairly cheap deal at $16.8 million a year. He's not physically who he was before all the surgeries. But I feel like he could greatly help any contender as a Sixth Man or even as a starting two-guard.
What sort of assets can Houston get for him? Do you have an ideal landing spot?

We have seriously devalued the word "excellent" if Gordon is an "excellent" outside shooter coming off a season where he hit 31.7% of his 3s. That makes Brook Lopez and Shabazz Napier "excellent" too I guess. Is Aaron Gordon's 30.8% also "excellent"? Is "excellent" better or worse than "great" ... how far down do we have to go to be a "good" 3 point shooter 25%?

Gordon is a decent NBA SG coming to the end of his career and is making about the right amount of money for his skill set. If the Rockets can get rid of Westbrook and Harden they may keep Gordon around to "lead" whatever is left over.

[warfelg]

Gordon's a tank of a shooting guard at 6'3", 215 pounds who's also an excellent outside shooter and an underrated ball-handler on a fairly cheap deal at $16.8 million a year. He's not physically who he was before all the surgeries.

31, injuries, not explosive.

20/21 (32) - $16.8m
21/22 (33) - $18.4m
22/23 (34) - $19.6m
23/24 (35) - $21m

The issue with his contract lies here:
2023 non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed for All-Star team or 500 min (reg)/750 (reg/playoffs) + HOU Championship

If that HOU Championship thing travels with him, there's a 0% chance any contender willingly trades for him unless it's a team that's hoping to reduce their cap or he's used as a salary filler. Houston doesn't really have the right trade sweeteners to add to EG to move that contract.

I could see a 6-7-8-9 seed team that knows there's an outside shot at a championship, but likely just 1st/2nd round exits over that time span that wants a guy who can shoot taking him on, but again those teams usually want assets to take in a guy like that.

Baybe the Bulls do something like Porter+Young for EG+Covington. Bulls get a good floor spacer and devender in Covington, and a bench scorer in EG; Houston gets cap relief/tax relief in Porter's expiring contract and get a 4/5 type hustle guy in Young.

[Tg11]

Teams where Eric Gordon would be a fit:

Milwaukee Bucks
Toronto Raptors
Dallas Mavericks
Miami Heat
Los Angeles Clippers

[mightybosstone]

I like Eric Gordon and have really enjoyed him in his time in Houston. I also think he was a steaming pile of hot garbage last season and have very little faith that he's worth his contract at this point in his career. I could see a team in need of a secondary scorer taking a chance on him given that his contract isn't that atrocious. I could easily see the Rockets dealing Gordon and another piece like Tucker to take on a larger contract at a position of need like an Al Horford type.

[Tg11]

Eric Gordon to the Sixers gives them what they need...shooting

[warfelg]

I like Eric Gordon and have really enjoyed him in his time in Houston. I also think he was a steaming pile of hot garbage last season and have very little faith that he's worth his contract at this point in his career. I could see a team in need of a secondary scorer taking a chance on him given that his contract isn't that atrocious. I could easily see the Rockets dealing Gordon and another piece like Tucker to take on a larger contract at a position of need like an Al Horford type.

I'd take that because Tucker fits nicely....but at the same time that's another SF/PF tweener like Harris to deal with.

[NBA all the way]

I'd take that because Tucker fits nicely....but at the same time that's another SF/PF tweener like Harris to deal with.

Shoot, that man has played all over in his career.

[beasted86]

I'd take that because Tucker fits nicely....but at the same time that's another SF/PF tweener like Harris to deal with.

Tucker at this point in his career is fairly comfortably a PF. He does not have the speed to keep up with quicker SFs anymore.

Harris has always been way more effective at the PF than SF.

This follows brand logic though. Another PF.

[warfelg]

Tucker at this point in his career is fairly comfortably a PF. He does not have the speed to keep up with quicker SFs anymore.

Harris has always been way more effective at the PF than SF.

This follows brand logic though. Another PF.

I mean, at least Tucker off the bench makes sense at his price as a 6th man.

[beasted86]

I mean, at least Tucker off the bench makes sense at his price as a 6th man.

For sure. Cannot continue to pay $23M+ to a bench PF while having middling guards and poor spacing.

[R. Johnson#3]

If Eric Gordon goes to a team that actually moves the ball and doesn't run half court sets of iso ball then I'm confident he can bounce back. He can't create for himself and needs ball movement in order to get his open looks.

[mightybosstone]

If Eric Gordon goes to a team that actually moves the ball and doesn't run half court sets of iso ball then I'm confident he can bounce back. He can't create for himself and needs ball movement in order to get his open looks.

He can create for himself, and he gets plenty of open looks. The problem is his shot selection and IQ are terrible at times, and frankly, his shot last season was just broken. When he's driving to the basket and making smart decisions around the rim and sticking to mostly uncontested 3s (and actually making them), he's a legitimate offensive weapon. He can be spectacular when his shot is falling.

The problem is there's way too many games where you look up and he's 0-7 from the 3-point line and so he's forcing penetration into double teams and turning it over. He's not a great playmaker for others, so if he drives into traffic, you're not going to see a ton of great passes to open shooters. You're going to see a turnover or an off-balance layup that's almost certainly going to be a miss (and whining to refs about a no call).

The problem with he and Westbrook, too, is that their games are too similar. You can have one inefficient, 3-point liability who's a streaky shooter and depends on driving to the basket to generate offense. Sometimes having a guy like that who offers a different look offensively can be helpful to an offense. But having two of those guys is superfluous and leads to a lot of poor offensive possessions.

That's why I really, really hope that either Westbrook or Gordon gets traded in the next couple of weeks. They need guys who can actually hit jumpers, and they need actual size in the front court.

[LaVar Ball]

Eric Gordon was part of the CP3 revised trade to the Clippers after the veto Lakers debacle.

He’s been highly coveted from that time but feel he’s lost his value over the last 2 seasons

[R. Johnson#3]

He can create for himself, and he gets plenty of open looks. The problem is his shot selection and IQ are terrible at times, and frankly, his shot last season was just broken. When he's driving to the basket and making smart decisions around the rim and sticking to mostly uncontested 3s (and actually making them), he's a legitimate offensive weapon. He can be spectacular when his shot is falling.

The problem is there's way too many games where you look up and he's 0-7 from the 3-point line and so he's forcing penetration into double teams and turning it over. He's not a great playmaker for others, so if he drives into traffic, you're not going to see a ton of great passes to open shooters. You're going to see a turnover or an off-balance layup that's almost certainly going to be a miss (and whining to refs about a no call).

The problem with he and Westbrook, too, is that their games are too similar. You can have one inefficient, 3-point liability who's a streaky shooter and depends on driving to the basket to generate offense. Sometimes having a guy like that who offers a different look offensively can be helpful to an offense. But having two of those guys is superfluous and leads to a lot of poor offensive possessions.

That's why I really, really hope that either Westbrook or Gordon gets traded in the next couple of weeks. They need guys who can actually hit jumpers, and they need actual size in the front court.

You start off your post by saying he can create for himself then go on to tell me how he struggles to create for himself and others. Then he makes smart decisions around the rim but apparently also takes a bunch of off balance lay ups? Which one is it?

Eric Gordon is a spot up shooter. Spot up shooters need ball movement to be effective. Harden and Westbrook keep the offence stagnant. Pretty sure having that small lineup only gave Gordon less space around the arc too. It’s not like he puts the ball on the floor and beats people in iso situations.