Does this trade make sense for the Houston Rockets?
Any trade scenario in which the Houston Rockets would trade away Eric Gordon makes sense for them because they do not want to be tied down to his long-term contract. Houston is rebuilding right now and they want no part of long-term, high-paying contracts, which is why they are more than interested in trading away Eric Gordon this offseason.
His contributions to this team over the years have been great, but the Rockets are no longer a contending team in the Western Conference. A new era has begun in Houston, which is why they do not want to be tied down to big contracts like Gordon’s.
Building with Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr. and others gives the Rockets a very young core that could be dangerous with time. They also have the 2nd overall pick in this year’s draft, so the Rockets will be adding another highly-talented, young talent with this pick.
While a handful of losing seasons could be in the Rockets’ future, the future looks to be bright for them right now, but they do need to find ways to free up cap space moving forward. The worst thing that can happen for a rebuilding team is to not have cap space to not only re-sign their young players, but go after other high-level players in free agency.
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If they are unable to move Eric Gordon, then the Rockets will be paying him and John Wall roughly a combined $129.4M over the next two seasons. This is money that can be used to extend their young players and potentially bring in other “under-the-radar” guys like they did with Christian Wood last offseason.
No matter who wants him, the Rockets should be thrilled to trade Eric Gordon this offseason, especially if they are to get a draft pick in exchange for him.