Eric Gordon – Houston Rockets
It is not a matter of if Eric Gordon will be on the move, it is a matter of when he will be on the move. With the Rockets trading Russell Westbrook and Robert Covington before the start of last season and then moving James Harden in January to the Brooklyn Nets, Houston has entered a rebuilding process that they have done quite well in so far.
Christian Wood emerged as a breakout star last season and with other key young talents in Jalen Green, Jae’Sean Tate, Kenyon Martin Jr., Kevin Porter Jr. and their other new rookies, the Rockets look like a team who could very well be on the rise in a matter of seasons.
All the minutes for this squad are going to go to developing their young players, which is why guys like John Wall’s and Eric Gordon’s minutes are going to decline greatly.
Wall and the $91.6M on his contract will be hard to move unless he is bought out, but Eric Gordon’s contract situation is a little easier to move via a trade. Who knows if a team is going to want to trade for a 32-year-old wing with three-years and $58.7M remaining on his contract, but something to consider is that the final year of Gordon’s deal is non-guaranteed.
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The only way the final year of his contract gets guaranteed is if he makes the All-Star roster or if Eric Gordon plays a minimum of 500 minutes during the regular season and the Rockets win a championship.
Neither of these two things are going to happen, which is why there is not much long-term liability in terms of trading for Eric Gordon, but he is still owed $18.2M this season, which can be problematic for contending teams already well over the cap line.
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Again, a multi-team trade scenario would likely be the way a contending team ends up trading for Eric Gordon, but there is no denying that he can still be an impactful player for a championship-level team. Last season in 27 games before injuring his groin, Gordon was averaging 17.8 points, 2.6 assists and was shooting 43.3% from the floor, 32.9% from three-point range.
Some team is going to be willing to trade for the veteran guard, especially given all of his experiences playing with a championship-level team in Houston with Harden over the years. He can defend, score off-the-dribble and be a threat in catch-and-shoot situations on the perimeter, which is why Eric Gordon is still one of the more valuable trade assets available this year.
