Also, despite how mediocre Austin is (at best), based on how mediocre (less than) Gordon has been for the Rockets, if the opportunity comes, Austin gives a serviceable enough player to allow the Rockets to look to trade Gordon for a wing that might be available. The question is whom?
This could improve 4 wins this season. If contract is 4 million dollars (part of MLE), it is not good. If it's Vet Min, it is good. Sometimes it needs MLE to sign buyout players. Rivers > MCW > Knight The 26-year-old failed to make much of an impact in Washington, averaging only 7.2 points and 2.0 assists per game while mostly coming off the bench. He ranked last on the team with minus-0.3 win shares in 29 games, per Basketball Reference.
I am sure there is some positive to his game, I am not expecting miracles given the point in time of his arrival. Holes in his game are expected nonetheless.
Honestly, now that I think about, we can just as easily be trading Gordon for a wing. Knight and Rivers are kind of barfy, but between the two of them could be passable as backups (especially if Knight is able to get into playing shape). Would be a step down from elite backup guards we're accustomed to, but still around average in the NBA. The benefit of trading Gordon is: we get a better wing without having to attach the pick, and we can still dump our first and Knight on draft night. Having a 6th man of the year candidate is great, but it's not as important as our severely weak wing rotation. Personally, I would prefer dumping Knight.
We now have Melo, Knight, MCW, and Austin Rivers. And people laughed at the collection of players the Lakers put together.
