Not trading Gordon is one of our biggest failures this year

You only commit if you are actually going to use it to draft a player. Houston could have taken that 1st pick and use it in a future deal, assuming whatever 1st Stone would have gotten for Gordon was not for this year's draft. A 1st round pick is tradeable in most situations; an Eric Gordon is not.

 

Yeah, I don't get it.

Before trade deadline:
45 games: 42.7% (3P%)....3 asts....14.2 pts per game
After trade deadline:
11 games: 35.9% (3P%)....1.5 asts...11.2 pts per game

Not a huge drop off; but since the trade deadline passed, looks completely
deflated out on the court. Like he has checked out....almost in disappointment
that he wasn't traded.

I saw tweets that he wanted to stay before the deadline....I felt like it was damage control for
a fall out for those fans who like EG; I'm guessing he actually wanted to go to a contender.
Just judging by his body language, now.

He really needs to go....for his sake and ours. He doesn't want to play, kids aren't
learning much from him with 10 games remaining, team doesn't want to win games;
what the he'll is management doing forcing this nonsense, I don't see the point.
His trade value is going down not up as a result.

 

I disagree. Gordon is a missing piece for many top contending teams. They want his services.

 

You could easily shut him down for the season but oh no we have to play every veteran.

If you can't trade him, sit him down.

 

If contenders wanted his services, they would have offered a future FRP. The only reason Gordon got late FRP offers in the 2022 Draft is because teams don't place a high value on late FRPs this year as it is a very thin draft.

The Rockets don't have roster room for another project, especially one that is likely worse than existing projects for next season much less the season after that when they have cap space. In addition, the Rockets are not going to enter the offseason and/or next season without some expiring contracts. Stone is going to maintain the ability to match salaries with a variety of different contracts in potential trades unless he gets a good offer.

Odds are not good a trade materializes that needs Gordon's contract for matching purposes, but they are likely better than a late FRP in 2022 being a difference maker.

 

If Stone's thought process is truly in line with "I need a future 1st or I'm keeping Gordon" then he's a bit short sighted. Getting a late 1st round pick for this year's draft isn't the end of the world--that pick can be flipped easily down the road. What's NOT easy to flip down the road is Eric Gordon. The odds of him playing like he did at the beginning of the season until the trade deadline next season is very very low. Stone should have taken whatever 1st rounder he could have gotten and just add that to the pile of assets.

 

Stone gets one more offseason to correct some mistakes, grab a legit cornerstone (or two), and rebalance this team. It’s been two years of questionable decisions and bad basketball on the court. It’s time to see some progress in year 3. that starts with making some significant moves to consolidate and moving on from problem guys like Wood and KPJ. It’s time to hold Stone accountable.

 

No, its not a failure.

The reports were that all that was offered was picks in the coming draft, of which they don't want or need.

The option to trade EG still exists and they will be able to push the compensation out beyond this draft. That's rather important considering they have two draft picks and only two roster spots expected to be open.

Should they want to keep Schroder around or use their MLE they will have to clear a roster spot to do so.

6 first or second year players will be competing for minutes with the two picks this year , do you see room for another late first rounder ?

Adding a 3rd pick in this draft was less than ideal.

 

It was not that big of a deal. The most important thing this year is that we maximize our chances at #1 pick and currently that's where we are at.

Do I wish we traded him? Yeah! But there's still a large chance we trade him this offseason hopefully for a FRP

 

i have no idea where folks get this idea for a team in full rebuild that picks aren't wanted or needed.

So it makes much more sense to get a pick next year instead of this year? yeah, no. the poo poo platter that theyll get for EG is going to be one to revisit and it's all bc they waited way too long to get rid of him

 

You have to realize that the pick you could have gotten for EG at the deadline was severely diminished in value for multiple reasons.

1) it was a very late pick.

2) You have to use it this offseason and teams know you have no roster spots. (2FA expire 2 picks currently)

Ideally you extend the life of the asset, that's very difficult if you make the trade and teams know you don't particularly want to make the pick.
Stay calm, the option still exists all the way to next years trade deadline.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

If the 2022 FRP could be flipped easily for a future FRP, the teams with the future FRPs could have just made a trade for Gordon this season. Gordon does not have to play like he did this season to have an expiring contract. Gordon's expiring contract is a better asset regardless of how he plays than a late 2022 FRP. The Rockets are going to try to package assets together to get a star or at least a starter. The pile of assets the Rockets have mean diddly squat in a trade if the Rockets don't have contracts that can match up in a trade.

 

An aging, probably injured EG isn't a better asset. In fact, it's a depreciating asset

 

yeah, right. maybe we could have gotten Oladipo or some DJ's and get them into our system so that next year . . .

 

"The Houston Rockets have traded Eric Gordon to the LA Clippers along with a 2023 second rounder in exchange for a future Clippers first round draft pick in 2025..... the Clippers pick has a draft protection of picks 1-29. If the Clippers pick is numbers 1-29 the Rockets get nothing."

"We got a future #1 pick for Eric, it was worth the wait." - Stone ..... trying to fool the fans

 

The flaw in thinking that the option to trade Gordon for a 1st rounder all the way to next years trade deadline is assuming Gordon can repeat his hot performance and also stay healthy. Those two things have shown to be inconsistent and the stars aligned perfectly this season for Stone to offload Gordon while he still has value to another team. Can Gordon be traded for picks next season? Absolutely but it's most likely a 2nd round or a heavily protected first that would most likely translate into future 2nd rounders.

The late pick that Stone would have acquired this year could have been used to move that Brooklyn pick (currently sitting at 16) up a few spots to 13 or even 12. That in and of itself could be very important in a rebuilding process.

 

Therein lies the difference between how you and I view Gordon as a commodity: I look at him and see a vet that could have potentially helped a contending team. You're viewing him as an expiring contract. In 2022, especially when the league is pretty wide open in terms of who can win a title, there's more value of having that vet than an expiring contract. Trading Gordon, as an expiring contract, isn't hard because you set the bar low in returns. Trading Gordon, as a vet to a contending team, sets the bar higher for returns.

 

I understand the logic, but I don't understand why you would want nothing instead of draft picks. Get as many bites at the apple as you can. If you have an equal number of bites... fine... get an early 2nd rounder instead of a late 1st. However opting to just not get a pick for a player like EG makes no sense to me.

The only thing I can see if cockiness on the part of Stone where he is applauding his abilities to find equal talent that has no differentiation from a late first to an undrafted limited talent. Tony Parker, Toni Kukoc, Draymond Green, etc. These players would NEVER be undrafted, but they could fall to the late 1st, or maybe early in the 2nd. Stone's un-drafted pickups are decent but he's in no place to be applauded for it by any stretch IMO.

So yeah I still think as an owner even despite the logic, I'd fire Stone if he came to me and said "Eh... I would have rather had a 2nd round pick so I passed on trading EG who is just going to coast the next 18 months on the Rockets for no reason whatsoever and get paid 20 mill to do so." I would fire him on the spot if he told me that.