Remember Eric Gordon, right? He's a free agent again.
According to the latest report from Shams of the Athletic, Suns guard Eric Gordon has turned down a $3.4 million player option for next season to become a free agent, with multiple contenders expected to pursue him in free agency.
During his time with the Suns last season, Gordon played in 68 regular season games, including 24 off the bench, averaging 11.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 27.8 minutes per game.
In terms of efficiency, Gordon's three-point shooting rate was 44.3%/37.8%/79.7%, and the true shooting rate was 58.0%, including three points in the right bottom corner, Gordon shot 25 of 57 in total, and the shooting rate reached 43.9%.
As a bench, Gordon's production and efficiency can be said to be very good, especially considering that he has Durant, Booker and Beal around him, three super scorers, not only that, Gordon's defense will not become a hole, statistically, Gordon's shooting percentage of opposing players has dropped by 1.6%, and the three-point shooting rate has decreased by 3.7%.
Although he played abnormally in the playoffs, averaging only 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, shooting 32.1% from the field, 41.2% from three-point range, and 50.8% from the field, the Suns' opponent in the first round was the Timberwolves, one of the league's top outside defenses, and even the Big Three did not play normally, how can you expect the 35-year-old Gordon to break out?
On the contrary, whether it was with the Clippers last season or with the Suns this season, Gordon proved that he is a rotation player who can stay on the court at key moments in the playoffs - Gordon may not be a 10-million-level player, but it is clearly worth the price to get such a backup scorer and playoff rotation with only a base salary.
Why did Gordon jump out of contract? There are two reasons for this.
One is for money, this offseason, many strong teams have plenty of salary space, and some young teams may need veterans, if he can join these teams, Gordon may be able to get a contract with an annual salary of about 5 million to 8 million.
The other is for the championship, and some people will probably say, doesn't the Sun also have the possibility of competing for the championship? It's true, but to be honest, with the run-in level that the Suns' Big Three showed last season, they may not be able to beat the Nuggets, Mavericks, Timberwolves, Thunder and other teams next season.
So the question is, where will Gordon's next home be? Personally, I think there are a lot of possibilities.
For example, the 76ers, the 76ers disintegrated this summer, including Lowry, Oubre, Batum, Hield, Payne and many other players will become free agents, but, as long as Embiid and Maxey are there, the 76ers will still be a strong team, if you can get a superstar in the free market, such as George, then building a team around the three, Gordon may become an option.
For example, the Magic, who just made the playoffs this year and played seven games against the Cavaliers in the first round, is a very young team, with only Ingles over 30 years old on the roster, and Gordon's addition can bring experience and bench scoring to the team.
For example, the Thunder, like the Magic, is a young team, after Hayward became a free agent, new signing Caruso became the oldest player on the team, and if Gordon joins, he will definitely bring some playoff experience - Jay Wei said after the playoffs that the team lost a lot because of inexperience, and began to panic when they saw the score behind, and if Gordon was in charge, the situation could be a little different.
For example, the Nuggets, the Nuggets are facing a big crisis this year, they have traded Reggie away, and they may lose Pope, if Gordon can join, not to mention the replacement, at least it can alleviate the loss of the Nuggets' combat power, from last season, the Nuggets' championship prospects are better than the Suns, and the ball after joining is definitely more than the Suns.
There is also the Rockets that cannot be ignored, although the Rockets have salary space that is not as good as the 76ers, Thunder, and Magic, but at least they can open the middle class for Gordon, and Gordon has played for this team for six and a half seasons, and has also won the best sixth man, and young cores such as Shen Jing and Jalen Green are no strangers to him.
Gordon, the seventh pick in the first round in the class of 2008, will be in his 16th career next season, and at 36 he is one of the longest-serving non-championship players on the job, behind Paul (19 seasons), Conley (17 seasons) and Thaddeus Young (17 seasons).
For such a veteran, each next offseason is very important, and any choice may determine whether he can get a ring or even whether he can stay in the NBA next season.