10:37am: Gordon will be out four to six weeks, the Pelicans announced, confirming Kushner’s Twitter timetable. He had surgery on the finger this morning, the team said.
7:57am: Eric Gordon suffered a broken right ring finger in Tuesday’s win over the Timberwolves, coach Alvin Gentry said, and sources tell Scott Kushner of The Advocate that they expect Gordon will miss four weeks. Kushner followed up with a tweet citing sources who expect Gordon to miss four to six weeks. In any case, it’s yet another serious injury for the Pelicans, who’ve been worse than expected this season thanks in no small measure to players missing time.
New Orleans (14-27) is ineligible to apply for a disabled player exception, because the deadline to do so was this past Friday. Gordon and Quincy Pondexter, who’s scheduled for season-ending surgery today, are the only Pelicans with current long-term injuries, so a hardship provision of a 16th roster spot isn’t a possibility. That means the team will have to deal with the injury through internal means, barring a trade or a roster cut. It’s unclear whether Jrue Holiday or Norris Cole will start in Gordon’s place, Kushner writes.
Gordon’s name had emerged in trade rumors of late, with the Pelicans reportedly having offered him along with Alonzo Gee in continuing talks with the Kings about Rudy Gay. This year was the first since Gordon joined the Pelicans in 2011/12 that he stayed healthy through the entire first half of the season, notes John Reid of The Times Picayune. He’s averaging 14.9 points per game in the final year of his contract, which expires in the summer.
What should the Pelicans do in the wake of Gordon’s injury? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
I would try to pry Eric Bledsoe from the Suns and tank this year. Bledsoe-Evans-Davis is a nice start to a quick rebuild.
The Pelicans don’t have much value to send back to the Suns outside of Anderson and Evans at this point (assuming Davis is untouchable). And a deal involving both isn’t a good deal for Phoenix unless they get a first round pick back.
Trade Ryan Anderson to the Celtics for David Lee and Terry Rozier.
Pelicans would have to send out more salary for that to work.
Lakers would trade Lou Williams for a pick I’m sure.
He’s been missing for most of last 5 years.. so not much is new.
More PT for Holiday, Evans and Cole. The Pelicans can get by with what they have unless somebody in that trio goes down.