The Rockets have received multiple trade offers for veteran shooting guard Eric Gordon, but have turned them down, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Iko suggests that unless they get an offer that “simply can’t get ignored,” it’s becoming more plausible that the Rockets will simply hang onto Gordon through the trade deadline.
Houston is in the early stages of a rebuild and Gordon is having his best shooting season as a pro, with career highs in FG% (.506) and 3PT% (.452) — the time seems right to make a deal. However, Iko says the team admires how Gordon carries himself on and off the court and believes he’s a positive influence on Houston’s young players, so there’s no rush to ship him out.
It still seems possible that Gordon will be on the move by February 10 if a potential trade partner meets the Rockets’ reported asking price of a first-round pick. But if Gordon remains in Houston, the club will have more opportunities to trade him before his contract expires — he’s owed a $19.6MM guaranteed salary in 2022/23 and a $20.9MM non-guaranteed salary in ’23/24.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Unless they’re blown away by an offer, the Rockets will likely hang onto Christian Wood through the trade deadline, says Iko. Sources tell The Athletic that the Heat have been one of the most “persistent” teams that has engaged with Houston in conversations about Wood.
- Although the Rockets have received some inquiries about John Wall, his contract makes a trade unlikely, and most teams that have registered interest continue to simply monitor the situation rather than actively pursuing the point guard, Iko writes. The Clippers expressed genuine interest earlier in the season, sources tell The Athletic, but their goals as the deadline approaches are unclear. I’d be pretty shocked if the Clippers sought a trade for Wall.
- With no guarantees that the Rockets will make a trade involving Gordon, Wood, or Wall, Iko indicates smaller deals around the edges are more likely. Daniel Theis, David Nwaba, and – to a lesser degree – D.J. Augustin – have all drawn some interest, Iko reports.
IDK what the Rox are trying to hold together. All six of those named players would have something to offer someone, and the Rox are not perfect. (Wall for Westy, article yesterday… Theis to Bulls… Wood to Heat… Gordon to Nugs… Nwaba to Celts as a star-sparker)
Theis can’t go back to the bulls via trade this season, wall for westy is a deal that literally makes no sense for the lakers(one of the few that exist) Gordon is a guy I can see them keeping just to have a vet around the young guys, but they are absolutely insane to keep Wood any longer, he doesn’t carry himself well and they have Sengun who should get all of woods minutes post deadline
Yes we can use wood with bam at the 4. That’s a tough line up
Wood would be at the 4 in that scenario. Bam can’t score if he’s more than 10 feet from the basket.
That would only make sense with Bam at the 5, not Wood.
Allow Wood to space the floor, and clear up lanes for Butler and Lowry, etc., while still having a solid rebounder and big body, and have Bam work down low playing inside out, using his excellent vision, offensive rebounding, and passing.
Plus, you could use both as screener in pick n roll situations, while having Wood as more of a scoring threat and Bam as a secondary creator/scorer rolling to the basket.
You could really offer opposing teams ALOT of different looks by adding Wood, and I honestly think it would immediately make them co-favorites right along with the Bucks, or a healthy Nets team…
If I’m Miami, I’m going all-in and acquiring Wood.
Maybe they could work out a three team deal with someone taking on Duncan Robinson, and also offer Yurtseven and a first and second rounder..??
Idk how they could make it work, but if you’re Miami, Riley, and especially Spoelstra should be drooling over possibly acquiring and adding Wood to your lineup…
I can’t see the Rox having interest in Dunc. Miami’s assets aren’t the strongest as we can assume Bam Butler and Herro are off limits. Who else can they offer for a player with the numbers wood is putting up. He’s a walking double double and can knock down the 3. I can see a few other teams making an offer before the deadline.
They’d have to give a third team involved for sure, with Duncan being on the move to that team plus all the other stuff. Still not sure it would be enough but if they are really as persistent as claimed, they could possibly find a way to make things work.
No argument there, seems like all Houston want right now is draft capital. It is risky though. They seem to be putting all their reliance on Green and Porter Jr for now. Which I’m not sure.
If I was in their shoes I’d be looking at moving wood Gordon and even KPJ for a young star. But doubtful it’ll happen. I see an OKC situation. A lot of picks but not much direction(however I’m a big fan of SGA and Giddy).
Miami should definitely go all in on Wood. They need another big man presence to help Bam for when we face teams like Milwaukee who can use size against us.
If we do it, I hope somehow they unload Dedmon and keep Yurtseven behind Bam and Wood along with the other 4s and 5s.
And I can’t resist, but there could be some funny memes, marketing etc. like “We’ve got Wood. Can you feel the Heat down deep in your soul?”
Ship out Wood now. He is a numbers on bad team guy….won’t be a big influence on winning once Rockets are ready in position to contend again. Plus – would love to see what they have in Sengun. Ok with Gordon – Green and Porter need a good influence and teaching how to be a pro (Wood isn’t doing that….). Trade off the fringe as well with Nwaba and Theis – they aren’t getting time on the court now anyway for the most part.
Am I the only one thinking this is all talk to convince other teams to up their offers? Looks like Stone is taking a leaf out of his old bosses book in Morey with Simmons.
They want better offers and hope that by saying they’ll keep all the players they’ll get better offers, it’s not a bad tactic but it’s risky, if someone has made an offer negotiate. Others interest will soon circle.
Stone is either bluffing and has big balls to try and get a trade. If it’s not that and they have the trade offers, maybe his perception of talent is too high. Either way, Gordon and Wood is probably wanted by 15-18 of those contending teams. Something isn’t adding up here.
Just posturing here nothing more
It will be a gyspy flea market the first week of February with the Rockets
#FreeOptimusDime
I dont get how the Heat would get Wood…they dont have anyone they can move making above the minimum to match salaries. Obviously, you wouldnt move Duncan Robinson for that. They do need a floor spacing big, preferably someone that can guard certain other mobile/shooting bigs, like Portis, but I dont think they can swing a deal like this, and losing Duncan Robinson isnt a smart move